Carrie Mae Weems (American, b. 1953). Untitled (Woman and Daughter with Children) from The Kitchen Table Series, 1990. Gelatin silver print, 27 ¼ x 27 1/4. © Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

Carrie Mae Weems (American, b. 1953). Untitled (Woman and Daughter with Children) from The Kitchen Table Serial, 1990. Gelatin silverish impress, 27 ¼ ten 27 1/4. © Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

Dawoud Bey & Carrie Mae Weems: In Dialogue

Jan 29, 2022 — Apr 30, 2022

Level 2 Changing Exhibition Galleries

Dawoud Bey & Carrie Mae Weems: In Dialogue brings together a focused choice of work from a period of over xl years by two of today's nigh of import and influential photo-based artists.

Dawoud Bey and Carrie Mae Weems, both built-in in 1953, came of age during a period of dramatic modify in the American social mural. Since meeting at the Studio Museum in Harlem in 196, the two artists have been intellectual colleagues and companions. Over the following 5 decades, Bey and Weems have explored and addressed similar themes: race, form, representation, and systems of power, creating work that is grounded in specific African American events and realities while simultaneously speaking to a multitude of human weather condition. This exhibition, for the beginning time, brings their work together to shed light on their unique trajectories and modes of presentation, and their shared consciousness and principles.

From the kickoff of their careers, both Bey and Weems take operated from a deep social commitment to participate in, draw, and define culture. In seeking to limited themselves fully, both artists accept expanded possibilities within photography and video to address their chosen subjects. Each engaged in the material and conceptual developments in the art world that were gaining prominence beginning in the 1970s, but as their careers were developing. As Bey and Weems have connected to push their own work frontwards, their fine art and approach have inspired notable younger artists such every bit LaToya Cherry-red Frazier, Lyle Ashton Harris, Mickalene Thomas, and Hank Willis Thomas.

Both Bey and Weems create work in focused serial that gives them opportunity to fully explore their complex and layered ideas. Dawoud Bey & Carrie Mae Weems: In Dialogue is arranged in five sections that present the 2 artists' work in thematic pairings, emphasizing both their mutual concerns and distinct artistic approaches.

Exhibition Tour

Following its presentation in G Rapids, Dawoud Bey & Carrie Mae Weems: In Dialogue will travel to other U.S. venues through 2023.

  • Tampa Museum of Art: July 21 – October 23, 2022
  • Seattle Art Museum: November 15, 2022 – January 22, 2023
  • The Getty Center, Los Angeles: April 4 – July 9, 2023

Dawoud Bey & Carrie Mae Weems: In Dialogue is organized past the Grand Rapids Fine art Museum

Exhibition Catalogue

Accompanying the exhibition is an illustrated catalogue published with DelMonico Books and distributed past D.A.P. (Distributed Art Publishers, Inc.) which documents Bey and Weems' photographs and includes scholarly essays by GRAM Principal Curator Ron Platt and National Museum of African American History & Civilisation Deputy Director, Kinshasa Holman Conwill, along with written reflections by both artists. Purchase the catalogue here.

Dawoud bey carrie mae weems in dialogue 16

Presenting Sponsor

MillerKnoll logo

Exhibition Support

Support for this exhibition is generously provided by:

  • Wege Foundation
  • Agnes Gund
  • National Endowment for the Arts
  • Eenhoorn, LLC.
  • Wolverine Worldwide Foundation
  • Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC
  • James and Mary Nelson
  • Kayem Dunn
  • Nib Padnos
  • The Louis and Helen Padnos Foundation
  • Shelley Padnos and Carol Sarosik
  • Progressive AE
  • Terry D. West and Richard L. Hagan

  • Ken Betz and Pat Brewer
  • brightly
  • Robert W. Daverman, AIA / 1000 Rapids Community Foundation
  • Erin Gravelyn
  • Jeff Gurney and Xuesi Li Gurney
  • Haworth, Inc.
  • Dirk and June Hoffius
  • J. Visser Design
  • Martin and Enid Packard
  • Ruth Posthumus and Marlin Feyen
  • Bill Scarbrough and Kate Kesteloot Scarbrough
  • Smith Haughey Rice & Roegge

Additional funding provided by the Friends of Bey & Weems Group and the GRAM Exhibition Society.

Lead Exhibition Society Sponsor

Daniel & Pamella DeVos Foundation

Related Videos

A virtual conversation with GRAM Chief Curator Ron Platt and Kalamazoo Institute of Arts Primary Curator Rehema C. Barber exploring the piece of work of photographic pioneers Dawoud Bey and Carrie Mae Weems.

Artworks

Black woman in white dress, seated with her eyes closed and hands clasped together. Light from a window falls across her face and casts striped shadows.

Dawoud Bey (American, b. 1953). The Adult female in the Light, Harlem, NY, 1980. Gelatin silver print, 20 10 24 inches. © Dawoud Bey. Courtesy of Stephen Daiter Gallery.

Installation Photography

Bey Weems Install 1

Resources for Learning