Julie Mehretu’s paintings and drawings refer to elements of mapping and architecture, achieving a calligraphic complexity that resembles turbulent atmospheres and dense social networks. Architectural renderings and aerial views of urban grids enter the work as fragments, losing their real-world specificity and challenging narrow geographic and cultural readings. The paintings’ wax-like surfaces—built up over weeks and months in thin translucent layers—have a luminous warmth and spatial depth. Her works engage the history of nonobjective art—from Constructivism to Futurism—posing contemporary questions about the relationship between utopian impulses and abstraction.

7 VideosSeriesFeatured Artist(s)Date

Politicized Landscapes

Julie Mehretu

9:43
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Politicized Landscapes

Julie Mehretu

9/13/2017

"Mural"

Julie Mehretu

5:12
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"Mural"

Julie Mehretu

5/14/2010

Painting Conservator Luca Bonetti

Julie Mehretu

6:30
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4/9/2010

Studio Assistants

Julie Mehretu

4:50
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Studio Assistants

Julie Mehretu

3/12/2010

Workday

Julie Mehretu

2:08
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Workday

Julie Mehretu

2/5/2010

Systems

54:11

10/28/2009

Julie Mehretu in "Systems"

13:52
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10/28/2009