Even though I come from an art background, or maybe because of it, I’ve never been one to automatically accept or appreciate a work of art just become someone has labeled it such. So, on a recent trip to the Detroit Institute of Arts, when I walked past the work of Julie Mehretu at a distance, I was ready to dismiss it as merely aesthetically pleasing splotches of ink and paint. It wasn’t until I got within a few inches of one of her massive works that I realized their significance.
“Julie Mehretu’s abstract paintings explore the often unwieldy issues of mobility, social organization, political entanglement, and global competition. Most cities are built, dismantled, and rebuilt over time, yielding structures and spaces that reflect ongoing urban change. Mehretu’s paintings follow a similar course as she layers and, in her most recent works, erases information from her compositions, showing how each new level becomes a foundation for new iterations, stories, and identities. Embedded in her abstract images, are elements taken from architectural blue prints, maps, sports arenas, and commercial logos.”
Photos can’t do them justice. If you go to the DIA, be sure to check out Black City.
Julie Mehretu: City Sittings
The Detroit Institute of Arts
through March 30, 2008
http://www.dia.org/exhibitions/item.asp?webitemid=1059
http://www.universes-in-universe.de/car/istanbul/2003/antrepo1/d-tour-01.htm
http://www.whitecube.com/artists/mehretu/
Sandy Marsh
in
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