Julie Mehretu
Julie Mehretu, born 1970 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, lives and works in New York. Considered one of the most influential contemporary painters, Mehretu is known for her large-scale, multi-layered abstract paintings that fuse cartographic elements, architectural schematics, and gestural marks. Her work explores themes of migration, geopolitics, urban development, and the complexities of social space, often evoking a sense of movement, chaos, and historical layering. By combining digital mapping, drawing, and painting, Mehretu constructs dynamic visual fields that speak to both personal and collective narratives in a globalized world. Her distinctive approach situates abstraction as a powerful tool for political and cultural reflection.
Privileges Taken for Granted, a Cadavre Exquis
2020
From Cadavre Exquis / Manet Olympia
Digital pigment print, on Hahnemühle Photo Rag, hand-torn, 54 x 40 cm (21.25 x 15.75 in), edition of 20, signed and numbered on label verso.
This edition by Julie Mehretu was created as part of a series published by Schellmann Art for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung in 2020 – a year defined by the COVID-19 pandemic and the global resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement. For her contribution, Mehretu intervened on a New York Times op-ed that reflects on how passports divide people into two groups – the powerful and the powerless – and how the privileged only became aware of this disparity when confronted with pandemic-related travel restrictions. Over the printed article, Mehretu layered gestural marks, abstract forms, and bursts of color, animating the page with her signature visual language. The work’s title is taken directly from the article and appears in the upper quarter of the print, visually emphasized by Mehretu’s sunburst-like highlighting.
price on request
