When the Obama Presidential Center opens to the public on June 19 on Chicago’s South Side, visitors will encounter major new works by CalArts alumni Mark Bradford (Art BFA 95, MFA 97) and Carrie Mae Weems (Art BFA 81), two of several artists commissioned to create works and installations across the campus.
“The arts have always been central to the American experience. They provoke thought, challenge our assumptions, and shape how we define our narrative as a country.” – President Barack Obama
Bradford’s work, City of the Big Shoulders, is “a monumental painting scaling the 3-story west wall of the Our Story Atrium in the Museum Building, mapping Chicago through an embrace of fragmentation and perspective, collapsing landscape into memory and compressing history into a story of pressure, power, survival, and hope,” according to the Obama Foundation.
Born in Los Angeles, Bradford is known for large-scale abstract works that incorporate paper and everyday commercial materials. His practice explores social and political structures while drawing attention to the experiences of marginalized communities. Since earning both his BFA and MFA from CalArts, Bradford has received a MacArthur Fellowship and the National Medal of the Arts, and represented the United States at the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017.
On July 7, he will participate in Mark Bradford: Layers of America, a public conversation at the Center exploring his artistic practice and commissioned work.
Weems’ commission, The Cool Blue Wind, is a photographic collage printed on silver and gold metallic paper accompanied by original music. The work references President Barack Obama’s historic 2008 election victory and explores themes of jazz, collective memory, and democratic participation. Located in the Museum’s Sky Room Vista, the installation combines visual imagery and sound to reflect on a pivotal moment in American history.
Weems is a widely influential artist whose work examines history, identity, and power through photography, text, fabric, audio, installation, video, and performance. Over a career spanning more than four decades, she has created acclaimed works that connect personal experience with broader social and political structures. Her work has been exhibited internationally, and she has received numerous honors, including a MacArthur Fellowship and the National Medal of the Arts.
To learn more about the Obama Presidential Center and its commissioned art program visit the Obama Foundation website.
