Julie Mehretu's biography reads a bit like an atlas. She was born in Ethiopia, raised in Michigan, educated in Senegal and Rhode Island, and now lives in New York. It is no surprise, then, that her work incorporates the dynamic visual vocabulary of maps, urban-planning grids, and architectural forms as it alternates between historical narratives and fictional landscapes.


Ruffian Logistics, 2001

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Retopistics: A Renegade Excavation, 2001

Once in sight, the viewer becomes fixated on processing the work’s various layers. It is a mess of different elements going about their business. Yet, one senses order. The layers start to separate themselves, but never so much that they can be viewed as purely distinct. One cannot analyze one layer without falling into another. Nonsensical shapes and events populate the 8’x18’ vellum canvas. Thick geometric blobs hover above sheets and sheets of frantic lines, translucent wrappers of battles, blueprints, and buildings. Upon closer examination, one notices that the work is composed of four different structured layers.

Layer 1.
Buried at the very bottom lie faintly recognizable figures, strong blocks that look like buildings. Yes, definitely buildings, with staircases and windows, pale architectural plans etched into the muted lilac vellum.

Layer 2.
The buildings are surmounted by what looks like the blueprints for a battle plan. Laid down in the same ink as the architectural sketches, only a shade darker, are plotted tracks and trajectory paths. Straight lines and perfectly composed dashed arches diffuse and rule this dimension.

Layer 3.
The chaos begins. Lines become organic, thick, and blubbery. Battle residue abounds. In this layer, depth is finally established and a landscape with perspective is created. It is impossible not to notice the explosions and smoke rising from some kind of conflict. Things are flying through the air. They are no longer just lines; they are corporeal forms. Against the rigid architectural plans beneath, these swatches of spirals create a grating juxtaposition. They induce a strangely pleasurable feeling of discordance.

Layer 4.
This is the first level to jump out at the overwhelmed viewer, but chronologically it was added last. Huge acrylic boomerang shapes seem to lift themselves off a surface that has already established itself as anything but flat. Chromatically, their hues are a notch below neon. They are solid, refusing to be ignored. Uncomfortable or not, they must be dealt with. They are even offensively cartoony at times. In this perturbing cacophony of expression, one wants to see more.
(zdroj http://www.columbia.edu/cu/museo/5/5/mehretu/ )




(detail)

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http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/CCT510/Culture-Art/mehretu.html

http://www.newmuseum.org/getlost/artists/julie_mehretu.html

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