Born in Ethiopia in 1970 and now based in New York, Julie Mehretu is a fresh new talent in contemporary American painting. Her works have already been included in many exhibitions at renowned institutions around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2002.
In her large-format paintings and drawings, Mehretu adds computer-generated architectural drawings, (urban) plans, gestural symbols, and colorful, geometric shapes to multilayered, futuristic visual worlds, where historical and fictional landscapes meet. The artist makes uses of different sources, making allusions to the geometric abstractions of Kazimir Malevich or Vasily Kandinsky, and referring to graffiti painting and comic strips, to press photos of riots and uprisings. In this way, Mehretu succeeds in creating her own form of the image that reflects its era.
This is the first book to feature a representative overview of Mehretu’s oeuvre, including her most recent works.
 

Exhibition schedule: MUSAC, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, León, September 23, 2006–January 7, 2007  · Kunstverein Hannover, February 10–April 8, 2007 · Louisiana Museum for Moderne Kunst, Humlebæk, June 1–August 26, 2007