Carmen Winant: The Last Safe Abortion

In The last safe abortion, artist Carmen Winant considers the labor of women’s health clinics and abortion providers in Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, North Dakota, and Ohio. Drawing upon thousands of historical photographs from archives across the Midwest, as well as photographs made by Winant since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the artist studies what physicians and staff refer to as “the work of the work”: answering phones, holding training sessions, scheduling appointments, and handling logistics. In assemblages made with print photography and ordinary office supplies, the everyday nature of Winant’s materials-as well as the activities they embody-contrasts with their vast individual, social, and political impact, creating a visual language that recognizes and honors abortion work.
The exhibition consists of a variety of photographs presented in three different ways: in archival cases, in reference to a school bulletin board, and as a wall-spanning grid of over 2,500 four-by-six images. The photographs themselves are surprisingly regular: women answer the phone, sterilize medical equipment, throw staff birthday parties, offer workshops, and schedule appointments. In centering the tender, quotidian, and routine acts that inform this healthcare work, Winant works to counter the ways anti-choice activists have weaponised photography by proposing a visuality that attends to abortion care.
The last safe abortion was originated by the Minneapolis Institute of Art and curated by Casey Riley, Chair, Global Contemporary Art and Curator of Photography & New Media.
MIA Carmen Winant The last safe abortion
Carmen Winant. The last safe abortion, 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Minneapolis Institute of Art. Photography by Charles Capistrant.