Brown Arts
Carrie Mae Weems: Varying Shades of Brown
A Campus Art Activation
September 18-December 3, 2023
Carrie Mae Weems: Varying Shades of Brown
A Campus Art Activation
September 18-December 3, 2023
Inaugurating Brown Arts Institute’s IGNITE Series, Varying Shades of Brown is a campus-wide project featuring major installations and programs by artist Carrie Mae Weems (b. 1953, Portland, OR), whose conceptual, image-focused work has been revered for over four decades. Through a variety of mediums and activations, Weems renders historical moments uncanny to draw out the complexities of racial and gendered violence. Integrating artistic practice and arts research, Weems—in her role as the first Agnes Gund Professor of the Practice of Art and Social Justice at Brown Arts Institute (BAI)—collaborated closely with students in her course “Artist@Work: Carrie Mae Weems” to develop Varying Shades of Brown. Sites include the David Winton Bell Gallery and List Lobby Gallery in the List Art Center; Cohen Gallery in the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts; the Main Hall and Attanasio Family Promenade of the new Lindemann Performing Arts Center; and various public spaces across campus.
Across the 2023 fall semester, Carrie Mae Weems and Brown Arts Institute invite artists, thinkers, and waymakers to engage in an array of conversations, performances, and gatherings, including one of Weems’s large-scale convenings. Members of the Brown and Providence communities, and beyond, are encouraged to join these ongoing dialogues and debates around the career-spanning themes of her work.
Brown Arts’ IGNITE Series uplifts the spirit of artistic collaboration across Brown, Providence, the Rhode Island region, and beyond. Ignite your creative curiosity through this multi-year series of programs, activations, interventions, and investigations.
Exhibitions and Activations
Carrie Mae Weems: Varying Shades of Brown
September 18-December 3, 2023
September 18-December 3, 2023
Carrie Mae Weems: Varying Shades of Brown
September 18-December 3, 2023
September 18-December 3, 2023
Carrie Mae Weems: Varying Shades of Brown
November 9-December 3, 2023
November 9-December 3, 2023
Carrie Mae Weems: Varying Shades of Brown
November 9-December 3, 2023
November 9-December 3, 2023
About the Artist
Carrie Mae Weems, inaugural Agnes Gund Professor of the Practice of Arts and Social Justice at Brown University (Spring 2023), is a conceptual artist who unpacks and confronts constructions of race and femininity in the pursuit of new models to live by. Grounded in the specificity of her lived experience as a Black woman but universal in its explorations of family relationships, cultural identity, power structures, and social hierarchy, her artistic practice is primarily photographic but also incorporates text, fabric, audio, installation, and video. Through image and text, film, performance, and her many convenings with individuals across a multitude of disciplines, Weems has created a complex body of art that investigates family relationships, gender roles, racism, and the consequences of power. Weems has received a multitude of awards, grants, and fellowships including the MacArthur Award and the National Endowment of the Arts, among many others. She is represented by Jack Shainman Gallery and is currently the Artist in Residence at Syracuse University. She lives in Syracuse, New York with her husband Jeffrey Hoone who directed Light Work for almost four decades.
What / Where / When / How
Date:
September 18 - December 3, 2023
Location:
David Winton Bell Gallery
Albert and Vera List Art Center
64 College St, Providence, RI
Hours:
Daily: 11:00 am - 7:00 pm
Thursdays: 11:00 am - 9:00 pm
Closed on the following dates: October 9 for Indigenous People's Day, November 22-24 for the Thanksgiving Holiday
Ticketing:
Free with registration upon arrival or in advance online
Free Advance RegistrationDate:
September 18 - December 3, 2023
Location:
Albert and Vera List Art Center Lobby
64 College St, Providence, RI
Hours:
Daily: 11:00 am - 7:00 pm
Thursdays: 11:00 am - 9:00 pm
Ticketing:
Free with registration upon arrival or in advance online
Date:
September 18 - December 3, 2023
Location:
Cohen Gallery
The Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts
154 Angell St, Providence, RI
Hours:
Daily: 11:00 am - 7:00 pm
Thursdays: 11:00 am - 9:00 pm
Ticketing:
Free with registration upon arrival or in advance online
Date:
November 9 - December 3, 2023
Location:
The Lindemann Performing Arts Center
144 Angell St, Providence, RI
Hours:
Daily: 11:00 am - 7:00 pm
Thursdays: 11:00 am - 9:00 pm
Ticketing:
Tickets will go on sale October 2
In advance: $15
At the door: $18
Students: $5 with ID
Seniors (65+): 50% off
Brown Faculty and Staff: 50% off
Ticket proceeds from Brown Arts Institute programming support artistic productions created by the various artistic communities on Brown’s campus and in Providence.
Date:
November 9 - December 3, 2023
Location:
The Lindemann Performing Arts Center
144 Angell St, Providence, RI
Hours:
Daily: 11:00 am - 7:00 pm
Thursdays: 11:00 am - 9:00 pm
Ticketing:
Tickets will go on sale October 2
In advance: $15
At the door: $18
Students: $5 with ID
Seniors (65+): 50% off
Brown Faculty and Staff: 50% off
Ticket proceeds from Brown Arts Institute programming support artistic productions created by the various artistic communities on Brown’s campus and in Providence.
Date:
November 10 - 11
Locations:
The Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts
154 Angell St, Providence, RI
The Lindemann Performing Arts Center
144 Angell St, Providence, RI
And other locations on Brown’s campus
Ticketing:
To be announced
Map
Varying Shades of Brown is produced by Brown Arts Institute at Brown University with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts.