Mourning, from the series Constructing History

Carrie Mae Weems, Mourning, from the series Constructing History, 2008, archival pigment print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2022.48.4, © Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
Carrie Mae Weems, Mourning, from the series Constructing History, 2008, archival pigment print, 61 × 51 18 in. (154.9 × 129.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2022.48.4, © Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

Artwork Details

Title
Mourning, from the series Constructing History
Date
2008
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
61 × 51 18 in. (154.9 × 129.9 cm)
Copyright
© Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums Description
archival pigment print
Classifications
Subjects
  • State of being — emotion — sorrow
  • History
  • African American
Object Number
2022.48.4

Artwork Description

As a visiting professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2008, Carrie Mae Weems marked the fortieth anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s death by producing this photographic series with her students. Together, they reconstructed key moments of the 1960s, as well as images and events related to the broad subjects of civil and human rights.

The photographs are constructions, literally and metaphorically. The ever-present mechanism of their staging speaks to the constructed nature of all photographs, reminding viewers that seemingly neutral elements such as lighting and framing are, in fact, never neutral. In several, Weems and her students restaged iconic images from the canon of photojournalism, recalling the image-saturated news coverage of events like the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King.

They also used compositional tropes from Western art history. For instance, Mourning, a restaging of Moneta Sleet Jr.'s photograph of Coretta Scott King and Bernice King at Martin Luther King's funeral, was staged as a Pietà, in Christian art a representation of the Virgin Mary holding the body of her deceased son. Images of traumatic events like Sleet's may wound viewers at first, but their impact is blunted by time and repetition. Weems's reenactments reopen the wounds of history. They do so as a means of processing, reflecting, and laying those wounds to rest. They enact a kind of reconciliation, with and through images.

Works by this artist (162 items)

Chiura Obata, El Capitán, 1931, color woodcut on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Obata Family, 2000.76.24, © 1989, Lillian Yuri Kodani
El Capitán
Date1931
color woodcut on paper
Not on view
Chiura Obata, Untitled (Magnolia in a Blue Round Vase), ca.1930s, ink on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Estate of Chiura Obata, 2020.74
Untitled (Magnolia in a Blue Round Vase)
Dateca.1930s
ink on paper
Not on view
Chiura Obata, Landslide, 1941, watercolor on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Estate of Chiura Obata, 2020.72.2
Landslide
Date1941
watercolor on paper
Not on view
Chiura Obata, Topaz, ca. 1942, pencil on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Estate of Chiura Obata, 2020.72.5
Topaz
Dateca. 1942
pencil on paper
Not on view

Exhibitions

Media - 2023.9A-G - SAAM-2023.9A-G_1 - 147614
Carrie Mae Weems: Looking Forward, Looking Back
September 22, 2023July 7, 2024
This focused exhibition pairs two projects by Carrie Mae Weems—a major multimedia installation and a series of photographs—that revisit moments from history.

More Artworks from the Collection

Claire Falkenstein, City is Man, 1941-1952, linocut, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.14, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
City is Man
Date1941-1952
linocut
Not on view
Claire Falkenstein, Untitled, 1976, embossed paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.18, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
Untitled
Date1976
embossed paper
Not on view
Claire Falkenstein, Mandala, 1977, lithograph, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.19, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
Mandala
Date1977
lithograph
Not on view
Nathan Oliveira, Site with Blue and White, 1978, monotype, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Moses Lasky, 2004.32.14
Site with Blue and White
Date1978
monotype
Not on view