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Carrie Mae Weems

American, born 1953

Blue Black Boy — Carrie Mae Weems (American, born 1953). Blue Black Boy, 1997. Monochrome color photograph with silkscreened text on mat, artist's proof 1/2, 30 x 30 inches (76.2 x 76.2 cm). Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., by exchange, 2008 (P2008:20.1). © 1997 Carrie Mae Weems.

Blue Black Boy — Carrie Mae Weems (American, born 1953). Blue Black Boy, 1997. Monochrome color photograph with silkscreened text on mat, artist's proof 1/2, 30 x 30 inches (76.2 x 76.2 cm). Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., by exchange, 2008 (P2008:20.1). © 1997 Carrie Mae Weems.

Blue Black Boy, 1997

monochrome color photograph with silkscreened text on mat

artist's proof 1/2

sheet: 30 x 30 inches (76.2 x 76.2 cm); framed: 31 x 31 x 1 1/2 inches (78.74 x 78.74 x 3.81 cm)

Collection Buffalo AKG Art Museum

Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., by exchange, 2008

P2008:20.1

Object Classifications:

Photographs

Color print (photograph)

Information may change due to ongoing research. Glossary of Terms

Carrie Mae Weems often turns the camera lens on herself and her family, documenting her experience as an African American. In her “Colored People” series, the artist references the “shades of blackness” people assign to themselves and others. By captioning monochromatic images with words that suggest innumerable meanings and interpretations, Weems creates visual puns that raise an important question: What does color mean? These photographs are a poignant reminder of the fact that all of us see the world through culturally determined filters.

Label from DECADE: Contemporary Collecting 2002–2012, August 21, 2012–January 6, 2013