Existing comment:
Untitled (Ella on silk)
Legendary jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald (1917–1996) was famous for such hits as "Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" (1931), "A Tisket, a Tasket" (1938), and a recording of Porgy and Bess (1959) with Louis Armstrong. Through collaborations and innovative vocal techniques, she elevated the role of the female jazz singer and influenced musicians in numerous genres, winning fourteen Grammy Awards and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. This diptych by MacArthur "Genius Grant"–winning artist Carrie Mae Weems blurs and dilutes an iconic 1960 Herman Leonard photograph of Fitzgerald to mesmerizing effect. The crisp, contemporary photograph of a vintage microphone not only marks the historical moment but also the melancholy beauty of Fitzgerald's voice. This work originated as part of a series called Slow Fade to Black (2010–11), composed of similarly blurred and cropped appropriated images of other African American female performers, a subject of vital importance to Weems.
Carrie Mae Weems, 2014 |