Julie Mehretu
Mar 25–Aug 8, 2021

For more than two decades, Julie Mehretu (b. 1970, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) has been engaged in a deep exploration of painting. She creates new forms and finds unexpected resonances by drawing from the histories of art and human civilization—from Babylonian stelae to architectural sketches, from European history painting to the sites and symbols of African liberation movements. Some of Mehretu’s imagery and titles hint at their representational origins, but her work remains steadfastly abstract.

Comprising approximately thirty paintings and forty works on paper dating from 1996 to the present day, this mid-career survey of Julie Mehretu presents the most comprehensive overview of her practice to date. She plays with the parameters of abstraction, architecture, landscape, scale, and, most recently, figuration. At its core, Mehretu’s art is invested in our lived experiences, and examines how forces such as migration, capitalism, and climate change impact human populations—and possibilities.

Julie Mehretu is organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The exhibition is curated by Christine Y. Kim, curator of contemporary art at LACMA, with Rujeko Hockley, assistant curator at the Whitney.

Generous support is provided by the Ford Foundation and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

In New York, the exhibition is sponsored by

Generous support is provided by Judy Hart Angelo, the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, the Ellsworth Kelly Foundation and Jack Shear, The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, and the Whitney’s National Committee.

Major support is provided by Lise and Michael Evans, Agnes Gund, Sueyun and Gene Locks, Susan and Larry Marx, and Sami and Hala Mnaymneh.

Significant support is provided by Sarah Arison, Abigail and Joseph Baratta, Fotene and Tom Coté, Krystyna Doerfler, the Evelyn Toll Family Foundation, Andrew and Barbara Gundlach, Mellody Hobson, the Juliet Lea Hillman Simonds Foundation, the Kapadia Equity Fund, Jill and Peter Kraus, Ashley Leeds and Christopher Harland, Suzanne McFayden, Katie and Amnon Rodan, and Sotheby’s.

Additional support is provided by The Cowles Charitable Trust; Jeffrey Deitch; Rebecca and Martin Eisenberg; Christy and Bill Gatreaux; Miyoung Lee and Neil Simpkins; the Robert Lehman Foundation, Inc.; Laura Rapp and Jay Smith; Barbara Shuster; and Rosina Lee Yue. 

New York magazine is the exclusive media sponsor. 

Artworks

An amalgamation of multicolored shapes and strokes overlap on canvas.

Julie Mehretu, Haka (and Riot), 2019. Ink and acrylic on canvas, 144 × 180 in. (365.76 × 457.2 cm). Los Angeles County Museum of Art; gift of Andy Song M.2020.65a–b. Photograph by Tom Powel Imaging. © Julie Mehretu

An amalgamation of multicolored shapes and strokes overlap on canvas.
A collection of multicolored shapes and strokes overlap on canvas.

Julie Mehretu, Of Other Planes of There (S.R.), 2018–19. Ink and acrylic on canvas, 108 × 120 in. (274.32 × 304.8 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from Anna and Matt Freedman and an anonymous donor. Photograph by Tom Powel Imaging. © Julie Mehretu

A collection of multicolored shapes and strokes overlap on canvas.
A collection of multicolored shapes and strokes overlap on an orange background.

Julie Mehretu, Hineni (E. 3:4), 2018. Ink and acrylic on canvas, 96 × 120 in. (243.84 × 304.8 cm). Centre Pompidou, Paris, Musée national d’art moderne/Centre de création industrielle; gift of George Economou, 2019. Photograph by Tom Powel Imaging. © Julie Mehretu

A collection of multicolored shapes and strokes overlap on an orange background.
A flurry of black strokes cover a gradient of green and purple.

Julie Mehretu, Conjured Parts (eye), Ferguson, 2016. Ink and acrylic on canvas, 84 × 96 in. (213.4 × 243.8 cm). The Broad Art Foundation, Los Angeles. Photograph by Cathy Carver. © Julie Mehretu

A flurry of black strokes cover a gradient of green and purple.
A flurry of dark strokes span the length of a wall-mounted print that's separated across six framed panels.

Julie Mehretu, Epigraph, Damascus, 2016. Photogravure, sugar lift aquatint, spit bite aquatint, and open bite on six panels, 97 1/2 × 226 in. (247.65 × 574.04 cm). Edition 13 of 16 + 2 AP. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, gift of Kelvin and Hana Davis through the 2018 Collectors Committee M.2018.188a–f. Printed by BORCH Editions, Copenhagen. Photograph by Niels Borch Jensen. © Julie Mehretu

A flurry of dark strokes span the length of a wall-mounted print that's separated across six framed panels.
A dense collection of black ink strokes fill the canvas.

Julie Mehretu, Invisible Sun (algorithm 7, spell form), 2015. Ink and acrylic on canvas, 119 1/2 × 167 in. (303.53 × 424.18 cm). Private collection. Photograph by Tom Powel Imaging. © Julie Mehretu

A dense collection of black ink strokes fill the canvas.
A series of stain-like splotches of ink create an abstract shape in the center of the paper.

Julie Mehretu, Untitled, 2014. Ink on paper, 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.64 cm). Private collection. Photograph by Bernd Borchardt. © Julie Mehretu

A series of stain-like splotches of ink create an abstract shape in the center of the paper.
A series of multicolored shapes and lines overlap on canvas.

Julie Mehretu, Mogamma (A Painting in Four Parts) Part 1, 2012. Ink and acrylic on canvas, 180 × 144 in. (457.2 × 365.76 cm). Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. Photograph © White Cube, Ben Westoby. © Julie Mehretu

A series of multicolored shapes and lines overlap on canvas.
An amalgamation of multicolored, grid-like shapes and lines overlap on the canvas.

Julie Mehretu, Mogamma (A Painting in Four Parts) Part 2, 2012. Ink and acrylic on canvas, 180 × 144 in. (457.2 × 365.8 cm). High Museum of Art, Atlanta, purchase with funds from Alfred Austell Thornton in memory of Leila Austell Thornton and Albert Edward Thornton, Sr., and Sarah Miller Venable and William Hoyt Venable, David C. Driskell African American Art Acquisition Fund, Dr. Lurton Massee Jr. Endowment for Contemporary Art, the Blonder Family Acquisition Endowment Fund, Robert O. Breitling, Jr. Acquisition Endowment Fund, WISH Foundation Fund of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and through prior acquisition from Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Liberman, Anne and William J. Hokin through the 20th Century Art Acquisition Fund, Henry B. Scott Fund, Jean Cloupsy, Mrs. Elizabeth Fisher, Charles Green Shaw, Jean Gorin Estate, David Kenney, 20th Century Art Acquisition Fund, Judith Alexander, Dr. Milton Mazo to mark the retirement of Gudmund Vigtel, Sidney Singer, Mr. and Mrs. L. Slann, Southeastern Annual Exhibition Purchase Award, Patricia N. Whitlow, Doris Caesar, Mrs. Edith Flynn, Mr. and Mrs. Gerald D. Kohs, J. J. Haverty Memorial Fund for the J. J. Haverty Collection, Scientific-Atlanta, Inc., through the 20th Century Art Acquisition Fund, William Quinn, Mr. and Mrs. Richard A. Allison, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Amisano, Mr. and Mrs. Overton A. Currie, Mr. & Mrs. Robert L. Steed, and Mr. and Mrs. G. Kimbrough Taylor, Jr., Dr. and Mrs. Gilbert J. Rose, Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Hahn, Friends of Jon Carsman, Mr. Andrew J. Crispo, Dean Gardens, Wellington Management/ Thorndike Doran, Paine and Lewis Collection, Friends of Con- temporary Art, Bruce and Lisa Stein, Rich’s, Andres J. Escoruela, Lawrence Fox for the Ralph K. Uhry Collection, Friends of W. Dean Gillette, Benjamin Elsas, Glenys and Kermit Birchfield, Friends of Henry Toombs, Atlanta Watercolor Club Annual Purchase Award, Jose Pinal, Estate of Theresa B. Oppenheimer, Chester and Claudia Carter, Shirley and Victor Kramer through the 20th Century Art Acquisition Fund, James Twitty, through prior acquisition from Lewis Beck, funds from Kidder, Peabody & Co., Inc./GE Capital Corporate Finance Group through the Kidder, Peabody & Co., Inc. Regional Purchase Program, Dr. Lawrence Rivkin, Jova/Daniels/Busby in celebration of their 20th anniversary, and Joseph Felice Brivio 2013.31. Photograph © White Cube, Ben Westoby. © Julie Mehretu

An amalgamation of multicolored, grid-like shapes and lines overlap on the canvas.
A series of multicolored shapes and lines overlap on canvas.

Julie Mehretu, Mogamma (A Painting in Four Parts) Part 3, 2012. Ink and acrylic paint on canvas, 180 × 144 1/8 in. (457.2 × 366.08 cm). Tate, purchased with funds provided by Tiqui Atencio Demirdjian and Ago Demirdjian, Andreas Kurtz and the Tate Americas Foundation 2014. Photograph © White Cube, Ben Westoby. © Julie Mehretu

A series of multicolored shapes and lines overlap on canvas.
Multicolored shapes and lines layer on top of a series of overlapping building sketches.

Julie Mehretu, Mogamma (A Painting in Four Parts) Part 4, 2012. Ink and acrylic on canvas, 180 × 144 inches (457.2 × 365.8 cm). The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, museum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund, 2013.458. Photograph © White Cube, Ben Westoby. © Julie Mehretu

Multicolored shapes and lines layer on top of a series of overlapping building sketches.
An abstract painting with densely packed lines, swirls, and geometric shapes.

Julie Mehretu, Black City, 2007. Ink and acrylic on canvas, 120 × 192 in. (304.8 × 487.7 cm). François Pinault Collection. Photograph courtesy the François Pinault Collection. © Julie Mehretu

An abstract painting with densely packed lines, swirls, and geometric shapes.
A series of multicolored shapes and swirls overlap across the paper.

Julie Mehretu, Untitled (2005 drawings), 2005. Graphite and colored pencil on paper, 26 × 40 in. (66.04 × 101.6 cm). Private collection. Photograph by Erma Estwick. © Julie Mehretu

A series of multicolored shapes and swirls overlap across the paper.
A canvas comprised of an amalgamation of vibrantly colored shapes and lines.

Julie Mehretu, Stadia II, 2004. Ink and acrylic on canvas, 107 3/8 × 140 1/8 in. (272.73 × 355.92 cm). Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburg; gift of Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn and Nicolas Rohatyn and A.W. Mellon Acquisition Endowment Fund 2004.50. Photograph courtesy the Carnegie Museum. © Julie Mehretu

A canvas comprised of an amalgamation of vibrantly colored shapes and lines.
A series of lines and swirls overlap to form an abstract collage that is almost foliage-like.

Julie Mehretu, Transcending: The New International, 2003. Ink and acrylic on canvas, 107 × 237 inches (271.78 × 601.98 cm). Collection Walker Art Center, Minneapolis T.B. Walker Acquisition Fund, 2003. Photograph courtesy Walker Art Center. © Julie Mehretu

A series of lines and swirls overlap to form an abstract collage that is almost foliage-like.
An abstract painting with geometric shapes and swirls of color on a beige background.

Julie Mehretu, Retopistics: A Renegade Excavation, 2001. Ink and acrylic on canvas, 101 1/2 × 208 1/2 in. (257.81 × 529.59 cm). Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas 2013.28. Photograph by Edward C. Robinson, III. © Julie Mehretu

An abstract painting with geometric shapes and swirls of color on a beige background.
A series of multicolored shapes and lines overlap on canvas.

Julie Mehretu, Untitled (yellow with ellipses), 1998. Ink and acrylic on canvas, 42 × 60 in. (106.7 × 152.4 cm). Private collection. Photograph by Tom Powel Imaging. © Julie Mehretu

A series of multicolored shapes and lines overlap on canvas.
A series of abstract line drawings overlap across a beige background.

Julie Mehretu, Migration Direction Map, 1996. Ink on mylar, 18 × 12 in. (45.72 × 30.48 cm). Private collection. Photograph by Cathy Carver. © Julie Mehretu

A series of abstract line drawings overlap across a beige background.

Events

View all

Audio Guides

An abstract painting with geometric shapes and swirls of color on a beige background.

Hear directly from the artist and curator on selected works from the exhibition.

Listen now

In the News

"[O]ne of the most significant painters of her generation" —Galerie

"Julie Mehretu Makes Art Big Enough to Get Lost In"—The Wall Street Journal

"Mehretu blends abstraction and representation in open response to current events"—The Paris Review

"[Mehretu's] art is ultimately in conversation with vulnerable people confronting power around the globe"—Essence

"With a robust online counterpart, this mid-career survey will let you get in close and savor the details that might otherwise be lost."—Elle Decor

"Spanning the past 25 years of her work, the Whitney exhibition is an eye-opener."—W Magazine

“Can you be both an agent of change and art-world royalty? This artist’s reign on the Whitney Museum’s fifth floor shows it’s possible.”—New York Times

“This exhibition will take viewers through a mindful journey of how realities of the past and present can shape human consciousness.”—Hypebeast

“Mehretu has packed, unpacked, and metamorphosed more ideas and innovations, more magically, than any artist in many years”—Slate

“It is infinitely gratifying..."—Juxtapoz

Sunrise

Sunset

A 30-second online art project:
LaTurbo Avedon, Morning Mirror / Evening Mirror

Learn more