Julie Mehretu
Encyclopedia
Julie Mehretu is an artist, best known for her densely-layered abstract paintings and prints. She lives and works in New York City
. Mehretu shares her New York studio with her partner, the artist, Jessica Rankin
.
, and a graduate of East Lansing High School
, Mehretu received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kalamazoo College
in Kalamazoo, Michigan
, and did a junior year abroad at Cheikh Anta Diop University
(UCAD) in Dakar, Senegal, then attended the Rhode Island School of Design
in Providence, Rhode Island
, where she earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1997.
Mehretu is represented by Marian Goodman Gallery in New York and by Jay Jopling
from the White Cube
art gallery in London as well as by carlier gebauer in Berlin.
in September 2010. It's estimated value had been $600–$800,000.
In 2000, she was awarded a grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award.
Mehretu was the recipient of the 2001 Penny McCall Award. Her work has been included in Greater New York, P.S.1 Contemporary Arts Center, New York (2000), and she has participated in numerous group exhibitions, including one at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson (2000). More recently, her work has appeared in Free Style at the Studio Museum in Harlem (2001); The Americans at the Barbican Gallery in London (2001); White Cube gallery in London (2002), the Busan Biennale in Korea (2002); the 8th Baltic Triennial in Vilnius, Lithuania (2002); and Drawing Now: Eight Propositions (2002) at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
In 2001, she participated in the exhibition Painting at the Edge of the World at the Walker Art Center
.
Julie Mehretu was one of 38 artists whose work was exhibited in the 2004-5 Carnegie International: A Final Look.
On September 20, 2005, she was named as one of the 2005 recipients of the MacArthur Fellowship, often referred to as the "genius grant." Mehretu was granted the award amid legal issues over her work and the right of first refusal contracts between her gallery and a collector.
Mehretu's work was also included in the "In Praise of Doubt" exhibition at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice in the summer of 2011.
Her works are held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art
.
Although located in a private office building lobby, her 23' x 80' mural commissioned for the new Goldman Sachs
tower in New York City (2010) is viewable from the sidewalk windows.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Mehretu shares her New York studio with her partner, the artist, Jessica Rankin
Jessica Rankin
Jessica Rankin is an Australian artist who lives and works in New York. She has participated in numerous group exhibitions in the US, Europe and Australia. Recent solo exhibitions include White Cube, London , PS1 Contemporary Arts Center, New York and Franklin Artworks, Minneapolis...
.
Life and work
Raised in East Lansing, MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, and a graduate of East Lansing High School
East Lansing High School
East Lansing High School is a public high school in the city of East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It is managed by the East Lansing Public Schools district....
, Mehretu received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kalamazoo College
Kalamazoo College
Kalamazoo College, also known as K College or simply K, is a private liberal arts college in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1833, the college is among the 100 oldest in the country. Today, it produces more Peace Corps volunteers per capita than any other U.S...
in Kalamazoo, Michigan
Kalamazoo, Michigan
The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...
, and did a junior year abroad at Cheikh Anta Diop University
Cheikh Anta Diop University
Cheikh Anta Diop University , also known as the University of Dakar, is a university in Dakar, Senegal. It is named after the Senegalese historian and anthropologist Cheikh Anta Diop and has an enrollment of over 60,000.-History:...
(UCAD) in Dakar, Senegal, then attended the Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design is a fine arts and design college located in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1877. Located at the base of College Hill, the RISD campus is contiguous with the Brown University campus. The two institutions share social, academic, and community resources and...
in Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, where she earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1997.
Mehretu is represented by Marian Goodman Gallery in New York and by Jay Jopling
Jay Jopling
Jeremy "Jay" Jopling is an English art dealer and gallery owner. He is closely associated with the YBA artists and his gallery White Cube represents the commercial interests of YBAs Jake & Dinos Chapman, Tracey Emin, Marcus Harvey, Damien Hirst, Gary Hume, Marc Quinn, and Sam Taylor-Wood, whom he...
from the White Cube
White Cube
White Cube is a contemporary art gallery designed by MRJ Rundell & Associates in Hoxton Square in the East End of London Mason's Yard, in central London and White Cube Bermondsey in South East London...
art gallery in London as well as by carlier gebauer in Berlin.
Exhibitions and recognition
Mehretu's painting Untitled 1 sold for $US1,022,500 at Sotheby'sSotheby's
Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
in September 2010. It's estimated value had been $600–$800,000.
In 2000, she was awarded a grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award.
Mehretu was the recipient of the 2001 Penny McCall Award. Her work has been included in Greater New York, P.S.1 Contemporary Arts Center, New York (2000), and she has participated in numerous group exhibitions, including one at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson (2000). More recently, her work has appeared in Free Style at the Studio Museum in Harlem (2001); The Americans at the Barbican Gallery in London (2001); White Cube gallery in London (2002), the Busan Biennale in Korea (2002); the 8th Baltic Triennial in Vilnius, Lithuania (2002); and Drawing Now: Eight Propositions (2002) at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
In 2001, she participated in the exhibition Painting at the Edge of the World at the Walker Art Center
Walker Art Center
The Walker Art Center is a contemporary art center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is considered one of the nation's "big five" museums for modern art along with the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum and the Hirshhorn...
.
Julie Mehretu was one of 38 artists whose work was exhibited in the 2004-5 Carnegie International: A Final Look.
On September 20, 2005, she was named as one of the 2005 recipients of the MacArthur Fellowship, often referred to as the "genius grant." Mehretu was granted the award amid legal issues over her work and the right of first refusal contracts between her gallery and a collector.
Mehretu's work was also included in the "In Praise of Doubt" exhibition at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice in the summer of 2011.
Her works are held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
.
Although located in a private office building lobby, her 23' x 80' mural commissioned for the new Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...
tower in New York City (2010) is viewable from the sidewalk windows.
Selected solo exhibitions
- 2010
- Julie Mehretu: Grey Area, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
- 2009
- Julie Mehretu: Grey Area, Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin, DE
- 2008
- Julie Mehretu: City Sitings, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC
- Julie Mehretu: City Sitings, Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA
- 2007
- Julie Mehretu: Black City, Kunstverein Hannover, Hanover
- Julie Mehretu: Black City, Louisiana Museum, Humlebaek
- Julie Mehretu: City Sitings (traveling through 2008), The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit
- 2006
- Black City, MUSAC - Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y Léon, Léon
- Julie Mehretu – Heavy Weather, Crown Point Press, San Francisco, CA
- The Unhomely: Phantom Scenes in Global Society, 2nd International Biennial of Contemporary Art in Seville, Spain
- 2005
- Drawings, The Project, New York, NY
- Currents, St Louis Art Museum, St Louis, MO
- 2004
- Matrix, University of California Berkeley Art Museum, CA
- Julie Mehretu: Drawing into Painting, REDCAT, Los Angeles, CA
- Julie Mehretu: Drawing into Painting, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
- Déjà-vu, carlier │gebauer, Berlin, Germany
- Landscape Allegories, Thomas Dane, London, UK
- 2003
- Julie Mehretu: Drawing into Painting, Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art
- Julie Mehretu: Drawing into Painting, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (travelling)
- 2002
- Julie Mehretu: Renegade Delirium, White Cube, London, UK
- 2001
- The Project, New York, NY
- Art Pace, San Antonio, TX
- 1999
- Module, Project Row Houses, Houston, TX
- 1998
- Barbara Davis Gallery, Houston, TX
- 1996
- Paintings, Sol Kofler Gallery, Providence, RI
- 1995
- Ancestral Reflections, Archive Gallery. New York, NY
- Ancestral Reflections, Hampshire College Gallery, Amherst, MA
