Exhibition

(Re)Constructing History

October 4, 2025–May 3, 2026
Floor 3
Tickets
Entry to this exhibition is included with general admission.

(Re)Constructing History embraces the possibility for photographs to both record an instant and capture the history embedded within the present. Borrowing its title from artist Carrie Mae Weems’s featured series, Constructing History, this installation invites audiences to imagine the layers of history we encounter through a seemingly fixed image.

Across three galleries, photographs explore complicated, painful, and familiar histories. The first gallery examines Wall Street as a symbol of American power through its historic and modern depictions, while the second features artists who rework visual traditions through reference and appropriation. The final gallery considers how photography is uniquely positioned to expose the hidden forces behind changing environments and landmark formation.

In addition to Weems, this presentation celebrates contemporary Black artists Nona Faustine, Carla Williams, and Dawoud Bey as anchors in each respective gallery. These artists create works that move beyond static, silent documents, offering imaginative images that reveal stories of Black life previously unseen or unconsidered.

Learn more about the exhibition in The Power of a Single Image to (Re)Construct History.

Exhibition Preview

Carla Williams, Side, from the series  How to Read Character, 1990, printed 2024; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Accessions Committee purchase, by exchange, through a gift of Michael D. Abrams; © Carla Williams
Dawoud Bey, Untitled #17 (Forest), from the series Night Coming Tenderly, Black, 2017; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Accessions Committee Fund purchase; © Dawoud Bey
Nona Faustine, From Her Body Came Their Greatest Wealth, Wall St, NYC, 2013; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, purchase through a gift of Ty Ahmad-Taylor and Accessions Committee purchase, by exchange, through a gift of Michael D. Abrams; © Nona Faustine
Cindy Sherman, Untitled (Marilyn), 1982; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, gift of Jeffrey Fraenkel; © Cindy Sherman; courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Carrie Mae Weems, The Tragedy of Hiroshima, from the series Constructing History, 2008; promised gift of Paul Sack to the Sack Photographic Trust; © Carrie Mae Weems
Paul Strand, Alfred Stieglitz, New York, 1915, published in Camera Work, October 1916; collection of the Sack Photographic Trust; © Aperture Foundation, Inc., Paul Strand Archive
Rephotographic Survey Project, Rick Dingus for the Rephotographic Survey Project, 1978. Witches Rocks, Weber Valley, Utah., 1977–79; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Accessions Committee Fund purchase; © Rephotographic Survey Project
Yasumasa Morimura, An Inner Dialogue with Frida Kahlo (Collar of Thorns), 2001; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, gift of Carla Emil and Rich Silverstein; © Yasumasa Morimura
Mercedes Dorame, Ceremonial Tent, from the series Reburial, 2010; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Foto Forum purchase; © Mercedes Dorame

Major support for (Re)Constructing History is provided by the Pritzker Exhibition Fund in Photography.

Header image: Carla Williams, Side (detail), from the series How to Read Character, 1990, printed 2024; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Accessions Committee purchase, by exchange, through a gift of Michael D. Abrams; © Carla Williams