Photographer Carrie Mae Weems speaks at Johnson Museum today

Carrie Mae Weems, an acclaimed artist whose photographs and installations document experiences of African Americans, Africans and women, will give the 2002 Lurcy Lecture at the Johnson Museum of Art today, April 25, at 5:15 p.m. Her lecture is free and open to the public.

Weems' work is among those featured in the exhibition "Reality Reimagined: Photography Since 1950," on view at the Johnson Museum through July 14. Her photograph series in that exhibition, Not Monet's Type, is from the collection of the Everson Museum in Syracuse, which organized a major retrospective of the artist's work in 2000.

Weems has said: "I want to make things that are beautiful, seductive, formally challenging and culturally meaningful. I'm also committed to radical social change. ... Any form of human injustice moves me deeply. The battle against all forms of oppression keeps me going and keeps me focused."

Born in Portland, Ore., in 1953, Weems studied art at the University of California-San Diego and did graduate work in folklore at the University of California-Berkeley. Weems' work interconnects her two interests of art and folklore, specifically the spoken word. She often uses words in her work to give them a specific context and meaning.

Weems has traced the experiences of Gullah speakers from Georgia's sea islands, several series of works on Africa and the slave trade and a work commissioned by the Getty Museum on her response to a collection of 19th century images of slaves. In addition to the Everson Museum retrospective, she has been featured in a touring exhibition organized by the National Museum of Women in the Arts and celebrated in the PBS documentary "Conjure Women."

The Lurcy Lecture is given annually at the museum and usually features a major artist or critic focused on contemporary art. It is made possible through a gift of the Georges Lurcy Charitable and Educational Trust.

For more information, call 255-6464.