Episode 50: Carrie Mae Weems' Not Manet's Type (1997)
“I can’t rely on these artists. As much as I love them, I revere them, I’m also very, very disappointed in their engagement of the historical body of the Black self, of the Black body, of the Black imagination.”
To appreciate art history is to appreciate that there is a canon: it is constructed by art historians, it guides what is taught, bought, and collected by art museums, and, by its very nature, it can’t allow people in without keeping other people out. This episode takes a hard look at both this canon and our current moment through the extraordinarily nuanced, compassionate, and revolutionary eye of photographer Carrie Mae Weems.
Images Referenced:
Music Used:
Django Reinhardt, “Django’s Tiger”
The Blue Dot Sessions, “Jumbel,” “Turning to You,” “Pastel de Nata,” “Junca,” “Min,” “Basketliner”
Previous Episodes Referenced:
Additional Links:
Carrie Mae Weems’ “Not Manet’s Type” (1997) - Full Series
Full Carrie Mae Weems interview - National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Cross-Podmotion:
