Kreuzberg, Berlin
Carrie Mae Weems
Painting the Town
Barbara ThummThe exhibition Painting the Town in Space II presents a recent body of work by acclaimed African-American artist Carrie Mae Weems (b. 1953, Portland, OR, US), one of the most influential voices in contemporary art today. Weems created this series in 2021, in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder and the Black Lives Matter protests across the United States. The resulting photographs transform the scars of civic unrest into powerful visual and political statements. When the protests began, store owners from Weems’ hometown of Portland, Oregon, put up chipboard panels on their windows to protect their stores. These makeshift barriers became canvases for protesters to write slogans and graffiti. Authorities soon attempted to erase the messages by covering them with broad swathes of dark paint. What began as gestures of protection by local businesses, evolved into platforms of expression, only to be suppressed by local authorities who muted the cries for justice. During a consequent visit shortly after the events, Weems strolled through the streets and encountered these painted-over surfaces. What remained were fields of black, gray, and muted tones that unexpectedly reminisced mid-20th century Abstract Expressionist paintings. Recognizing their aesthetic force and political charge, Weems photographed them with the precise light, framing, and perspective that distinguish her practice. The resulting images serve as a critique to violence and censorship, as documentation, and as appreciation of the beauty that can emerge from chaos.