AWAW- Untitled by Carrie Mae Weems

My visit to Anonymous Was A Woman: The First 25 Years at the Grey Art Gallery was a powerful experience, especially encountering Carrie Mae Weems’s Untitled from her Kitchen Table Series. The photograph, showing Weems at a kitchen table, bathed in dramatic light while a man leans into her space felt even more intimate and charged in person, with its rich contrasts and life-sized scale pulling me into its narrative of love, power, and Black womanhood. Seeing the work up close emphasized how Weems transforms an ordinary setting into a stage for universal yet deeply personal stories, something that digital reproductions can’t fully convey. The exhibition as a whole deepened my appreciation for women artists reclaiming their place in art history serving as a poignant reminder of how often their contributions have been erased. Leaving the gallery, I reflected on how art like Weems’s turns everyday moments into profound statements, challenging us to see the overlooked as monumental. It was a reminder of why physical exhibitions matter: they demand our full attention, allowing us to engage with art in a way that screens never could.