Carrie Mae Weems’ (b. 1953) Kitchen Table Series (1990) is a landmark. It is one of the most iconic photography series of the 20th century, comprising twenty images which all play out at the kitchen table, under a bright overhead light. Weems plays the lead, sitting at the centre of the space, as children, friends and lovers move in and out of the frame. In one shot, a man reads a newspaper whilst she smokes a cigarette, lost in contemplation. In another, she applies lipstick alongside a young girl. Here, the domestic space becomes a stage to explore issues of love, partnership, motherhood, gender and self-determination.
The seminal body of work is now on display in The Heart of the Matter, an extensive retrospective taking place at C/O Berlin this autumn. Weems is a hugely influential contemporary artist, who, for more than four decades, has examined race, femininity, memory and power across a multidisciplinary practice. She is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship – one of the most prestigious awards in the world – and has work in the collections of New York’s MoMA and Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as the Tate Modern, London. This Berlin show includes more than 100 installations, photographs and videos spanning 40 years.
Weems often uses her own biography as a starting point to investigate belonging, identity and representation. This is never clearer than in Family Pictures and Stories (1978–1984), also featured in The Heart of the Matter. Here, Weems combines images of loved ones with anecdotal texts. Likewise, the more recent video installation Leave Now! (2022) presents the story of her grandfather, Frank Weems, via a 19th century illusory stage technique known as Pepper’s ghost. Frank was a tenant farmer in Arkansas and member of the Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union. Through this piece, Weems exemplifies the realities of life for Black agricultural labourers in the American South. The Heart of the Matter also includes a new series about Black communities of faith, and their importance for solidarity and resistance. Preach (2024) combines early photographs with new images that trace religion and spirituality over generations.
The exhibition expands from the privacy of family life to public places and monuments around the world, giving special consideration to how these sites are seen and whose points of view they represent. Cultural institutions featured in Museums (2006-Ongoing) include The Louvre in Paris, London’s British Museum and the Guggenheim Bilbao. In each picture, Weems stands in front of a recognisable architectural façade, dressed in black and turned away from the camera. Here, Weems positions these spaces as places of memory and control, revealing how historical narratives are constructed. It’s a powerful assertion of presence in the face of buildings that often fail to equitably represent women and artists of colour.
The Heart of the Matter is an opportunity to come face-to-face with works by an artist for whom the personal is always political. Over many decades, Weems has created a genre-defying oeuvre that spans archival, documentary and staged approaches. Whatever the medium, her series share a common goal: to explore how images create history, form memory and determine who is seen and who remains invisible.
Carrie Mae Weems: The Heart of the Matter is at C/O Berlin from 12 September – 3 February.
Words: Eleanor Sutherland
Image Credits:
1. Welcome Home, 1978–84; from the series Family Pictures and Stories. © Carrie Mae Weems and reproduced courtesy the artist and Gladstone, New York, Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, and Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin.
2. Untitled (Man Reading Newspaper), 1990; from the Kitchen Table Series. © Carrie Mae Weems and reproduced courtesy the artist and Gladstone, New York, Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, and Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin.
3. Untitled; from the series Preach, 2024 . © Carrie Mae Weems and reproduced courtesy the artist and Gladstone, New York, Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, and Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin.
4. The Louvre, 2006–ongoing; from the series Museums. © Carrie Mae Weems and reproduced courtesy the artist and Gladstone, New York, Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, and Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin.
