Julie Mehretu

Julie Mehretu is an American visual artist of Ethiopian origin born in Addis-Adeba in 1970. She lives and works in New York.

Daughter of a mother from the United States, and an Ethiopian father, she left Ethiopia for the United States at the age of 7. Her parents settled in Michigan, where they raised their daughter. . After high school, Julie studied fine art and obtained her master's degree from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1997. She then entered an artistic residency at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston for a year. Shortly after, the artist moved with his partner Jessica Rankin to New York. They have two sons.

Julie Mehretu is known for her canvases of gigantic dimensions, where shapes and colors swirl endlessly, in a joyful ode to the senses. The artist's style oscillates between figuration and abstract art, not being reduced to either of the two. This stylistic freedom is reminiscent of the work of the Futurists, from which the artist may be inspired. The figurative elements - doors, facades, windows and others - are in contact with the graphic forms, to which the symphony of colors infuses a benefactor energy. The lines are fine, precise, thoughtful, all in nuance. The vastness of the canvas does not prevent the artist from paying particular attention to detail. Julie Mehretu regularly tackles the theme of urbanity. Crowds, global cities, noise, pollution, movement, saturation… These are all elements that echo his artistic productions.

In February 2023, Julie Mehretu had a major solo exhibition at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles titled "Julie Mehretu: Ink Washes and Drawings." The exhibition featured over 50 works from her recent series "Ink Washes and Drawings," showcasing her masterful use of ink, charcoal, and acrylic paint to create fluid and expressive abstract compositions. The show was met with critical acclaim, with The Los Angeles Times describing it as "a profound meditation on human experience and the passage of time."

In March 2023, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City acquired Mehretu's painting "The Mapping of Place" (2002) for its permanent collection. The painting, a large-scale abstract work, was praised for its intricate layering of colors and textures, which form a swirling vortex of imagery that evokes both the beauty and chaos of the natural world.

In May 2023, Julie Mehretu was awarded the Edward MacDowell Medal, one of the most prestigious awards for American artists. The award recognizes Mehretu's "exceptional talent, originality, and enduring contribution to American art."

In June 2023, Mehretu was included in the group exhibition "Black Artists in Dialogue" at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. The exhibition explored the work of 17 Black artists who have made significant contributions to American art, and Mehretu's work was cited as a "powerful and visionary expression of African American experience."

In November 2023, Julie Mehretu was once again nominated for one of the most prestigious international awards for the arts, the Praemium Imperiale. The award is given annually to artists who have made outstanding contributions to painting, sculpture, architecture, music, literature, and theater.

These recent accolades and recognitions further cement Julie Mehretu's position as one of the most important and influential artists of our time. Her powerful and evocative work continues to resonate with audiences worldwide, and she is sure to continue to make significant contributions to the art world for many years to come.