Carrie Mae Weems: Slow Fade to Black
Los Angeles, 10 May – 30 June 2025
Slow Fade to Black is a series of 26 photographs of iconic black female singers and performers from the mid-20th century.
Caught in the act of performing memorable career moments, they are intentionally shown out of focus. In doing so, the resulting photographs focus on the vanishing memory of them.
"I started to realize that I rarely heard mention of these women" said the author: a disappearance connected to time passing by, a generational fact, but also very much the result of a triple prejudice: towards race, gender and the process of aging.
The erasure of black figures runs throughout American history. In recent years, a shadow in a 1837 painting was re-discovered as the overpainted image of a black teenager and the canvas, forgotten in a storage for many years, has hence been acquired by the MET Museum, where it has been proudly exhibited. A step forward in the process of repossession.
The truth is that erasure can also be a powerful act of affirmation, as Conceptual art has shown us. Almost nothing was left, but that nothing was sublime wrote Italian artist Emilio Isgrò. Weems' 2021 series Painting the Town is a wonderful example of how sublime and loud walls covered by overpainted slogans can be and make their message crystal clear. If anything is blurred in this series, it is the line between painting and photography and there is absolutely no confusion about the message.
In these portraits women are vanishing, disappearing before our eyes. We can still see them, proudly standing, caught in images that might have been the cover of Ebony or Jet Magazine. They are contemporary incarnations of the Black Madonna, their images playing a key role in defining the aesthetic-cultural codes of African American identity.
Now, on the threshold, they demand a due act of recognition, their voices to be heard, their performances to be remembered and their place in history restored.
A few years ago, a major exhibition by Carrie Mae Weems was called ‘The Evidence of Things Not Seen’, which quoted both the title of a James Baldwin book and the Bible. The evidence of things unseen is faith. We might add that love, then, is the force that brings things out of the dark.
So, turn on the music and love.
Written by Giulia Zorzi / Micamera
Please see below a curated playlist featuring the artists who inspired this body of work
Past Exhibitions
Mike Brodie: Polaroids
Los Angeles, 15 February – 15 March 2025
La Sena Gallery is proud to present Mike Brodie: Polaroids, an intimate exhibition of 50 original Polaroid photographs by American photographer Mike Brodie, known to many as “The Polaroid Kidd.” This special presentation offers an unfiltered look at Brodie’s early work - gritty, spontaneous portraits of life on the move across the American landscape.
Born in 1985 in Arizona, Mike Brodie began his photographic journey in 2004 after receiving a Polaroid SX-70 camera. Over the next four years, he crisscrossed the country by freight train, capturing the lives of fellow travelers, squatters, and outsiders. His images, raw, honest, and deeply humane, offer a glimpse into a subculture rarely seen, framed with a sensitivity that transcends documentary.
Between 2004 and 2008, Brodie immersed himself in this nomadic lifestyle, building a body of work that is as much about freedom and defiance as it is about community and connection. The 50 Polaroids on display at La Sena Gallery reflect the spirit of this period: candid moments of camaraderie, solitude, and survival, rendered in the warm tones and distinctive textures of instant film.
Despite transitioning into a career as a diesel mechanic in 2008, Brodie has not walked away from photography. Today, he continues to create new work, turning his lens toward the industrial world of diesel machines. An evolution that stays true to his fascination with the often-overlooked corners of American life. His influence continues to ripple through the worlds of documentary and fine art photography, celebrated for its authenticity and emotional depth.
Brodie’s work has been exhibited internationally and is included in the collections of institutions such as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Berkeley Art Museum. Mike Brodie: Polaroids marks a rare opportunity to experience these seminal works in their original format and context.