Untitled, from "The Rivington Place Portfolio"

Carrie Mae Weems (b. 1953) Untitled, from "The Rivington Place Portfolio", 2006 Digital print on Somerset Enhanced Velvet 30 × 20 in. The Studio Museum in Harlem; Museum purchase with funds provided by the Acquisition Committee 2008.10.7

In the “Museums” series, Carrie Mae Weems, shrouded in black, stands before monumental structures that characterize a variety of leading art institutions in the United States and Western Europe. In Untitled, Weems contrasts her figure with the massive columns framing the British Museum in London. With her back to the camera, the artist questions the power of architecture, ideas of displacement, and, pointedly, the exclusion of artists of African descent from these institutions.