In support of Prospect.3: Notes for Now (P.3), Carolina Nitsch Editions has partnered with Prospect New Orleans to offer a limited edition print entitled Untitled (Ella on Silk), a 2014 artwork by award-winning P.3 artist Carrie Mae Weems.
"It is a true honor to be able to present this wonderful and rare artwork by Carrie Mae Weems which will generate funds to support Prospect.3,” said Nancy Portnoy, a member of the Board of Directors, along with Isolde Brielmaier, Prospect New Orleans Project Consultant. “Carrie's elegant image, as well as her commitment and generosity, speak to the spirit of this year's exhibitions and programs and to the heart of the New Orleans creative community."
Weems has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions, and her works have been shown at major national and international museums, including the Whitney Museum, the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Untitled (Ella on Silk) will also be included next month in Carolina Nitsch’s presentation at EXPO/CHICAGO 2014, a leading international art fair in Chicago featuring more than 140 international galleries.
This singular artwork by Carrie Mae Weems depicts a portrait of the iconic jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald printed on silk charmeuse. The blurred image makes a mesmerizing impression, particularly because it is juxtaposed by a crisp photograph of a vintage microphone, frontal and iconic in its representation.
"Carrie Mae Weem's work represents much of what I have sought to discuss within this biennial,” said Prospect.3 Artistic Director Franklin Sirmans. “Primarily by creating pictures and investigating images, Weems has been the consummate observer of human life on the border of the 20th to the 21st century. She has constantly probed with an unflinching eye of pure honesty how we love and also hate each other as human beings trying to coexist on planet earth. I am thankful for her generosity."
Over the past 25 years, Weems has developed a complex body of art that has employed photography, text, fabric, audio, digital images, installation and video. Her work explores family relationships, gender roles, the histories of racism, sexism, class and various political systems. Despite the range of her explorations throughout it all, Weems views it as her responsibility as an artist to make art that: is beautiful and powerful; shouts bravely from the rooftops and storms barricaded doors; and is a voice specific to our historic moment.
Weems, who will be honored in November 2014 at the Guggenheim International Gala, was the recipient of a 2013 MacArthur “Genius” Grant as well as the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Other prestigious awards, grants and fellowships include the Prix de Roma, The National Endowment of the Arts, the Alpert, the Anonymous was a Woman and the Tiffany Awards, among many others.
For more information on purchasing one of the limited edition prints, contact Prospect New Orleans Development Manager Elizabeth Baribeau at ebaribeau@prospectneworleans.org.
Carolina Nitsch specializes in drawings and editions, including prints and monotypes, multiples, photographs, artist books and installations. Carolina Nitsch Editions actively publishes editions with a growing roster of international artists, ranging from traditional etching on paper or silkscreen to large installations. While they are a member of the IFPDA – The International Fine Print Dealers Association – their aim in publishing is to encourage the artist to explore new possibilities that stretch the boundaries of printmaking per se, and thus they work with many different printers and fabricators to achieve the most innovative and original quality. Carolina Nitsch also publishes editions annually for institutions including the New Museum of Contemporary Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art.