In the rarefied world of contemporary art, few names resonate with the gravity of Julie Mehretu. Her works, simultaneously chaotic and deeply ordered, evoke the dizzying complexity of modern existence. Born in Addis Ababa in 1970, Mehretu emigrated to the United States at the age of seven, a journey emblematic of the themes of migration and displacement that would later underpin much of her oeuvre. Today, she stands at the zenith of global art, celebrated not only for the intricacy of her large-scale abstract canvases but also for the rich, conceptual layers embedded within them.
Walking into one of Mehretu’s exhibitions feels akin to entering a dynamic ecosystem. Her paintings pulse with life, brimming with lines, dots, and washes of color that overlap and intersect, creating a visceral sense of movement. They are maps, but not of cities or continents — they are maps of humanity, of power, and of conflict. Her work reflects the tension between construction and destruction, the forces that shape not just physical spaces, but social, political, and historical ones.
Take, for example, her monumental piece, “Stadia II” (2004), which evokes the swirling energy of sports stadiums, political rallies, and global spectacles. It’s an image of global convergence — places where cultures collide, sometimes violently, in pursuit of identity and domination. The enormity of her canvases invites viewers to step closer, to get lost in the maelstrom of geometric shapes, as if attempting to decode the layers of meaning buried within.
In her latest body of work, showcased in the 2023 exhibition “They departed for their own country another way (a 9x9x9 hauntology)” at London’s White Cube, Mehretu tackled some of the most significant events of our time, including the war in Ukraine and the January 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection. These paintings, rendered in her signature calligraphic abstraction, often start with images sourced from contemporary media, which are then digitally manipulated, blurred, and layered into near-obscurity. The result is a haunting portrayal of a world in flux, one where meaning itself seems to shift and dissolve under the weight of history.
While Mehretu’s abstract, almost ethereal compositions may seem detached from the chaos of the world, they are, in fact, deeply rooted in the events that shape it. This was particularly evident in her 2024 exhibition “Ensemble” at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice, the largest European retrospective of her work to date. Here, Mehretu invited her closest friends — artists like Nairy Baghramian and David Hammons — to join her in what became a conversation between abstraction, sculpture, and sound.
Her pieces from the 2000s, laden with dynamic architectural forms, are juxtaposed against her later works, where the frenetic energy seems to dissipate into something quieter, more introspective. These recent works are notable for their subtle engagement with the tragedies of our time — the Syrian civil war, California wildfires, and the COVID-19 pandemic — all transformed into abstract gestures that hint at the collective trauma beneath.
Despite the vast social and political issues she addresses, Mehretu’s art is marked by an intentional ambiguity. It is this tension — between the recognizable and the abstract — that gives her work its profound emotional and intellectual resonance. “I want my work to evoke a sense of potentiality and that which is not yet knowable,” she once said. This sense of possibility, of something being just out of reach, is what makes her paintings so compelling.
Her ability to weave together these disparate elements — history, politics, architecture, and abstraction — has earned Mehretu a rarefied place in the art world. From her early days at the Rhode Island School of Design to her exhibitions at some of the most prestigious galleries and museums in the world, Mehretu has remained committed to pushing the boundaries of what art can communicate. And in a world increasingly dominated by instant gratification and rapid consumption, her art demands something more — contemplation, engagement, and, most importantly, reflection.
One of Mehretu’s most recent projects — her collaboration with BMW — offered a new dimension to her already formidable repertoire. As the 20th artist to design a BMW Art Car, Mehretu transformed a race car into a mobile canvas, melding her abstract forms with the sleek lines of the BMW M Hybrid V8. Her vision was to take the viewer beyond the traditional boundaries of painting and into the kinetic energy of motorsport — a fitting metaphor for her art, which often feels like it’s in constant motion.
The car, like her paintings, is a testament to her obsession with space, speed, and transformation. And yet, even in this radically different medium, Mehretu’s work remains unmistakable. The swirling layers of color and abstract markings on the car seem to propel it forward, as if the vehicle itself were caught in the vortex of one of her canvases. It’s a perfect encapsulation of Mehretu’s career — constantly evolving, always pushing forward, yet firmly anchored in her unique vision of the world.
As Mehretu’s influence continues to expand, her work remains as relevant as ever. Her pieces do more than depict the world — they interrogate it, peeling back the layers to reveal the systems and structures that govern our lives. Whether through the frenetic energy of her early architectural compositions or the more introspective, layered canvases of her recent work, Julie Mehretu challenges us to rethink how we see the world.
Her art is a reminder that, even in abstraction, there is meaning — sometimes hidden, often complex, but always present. And in an age where the lines between truth and fiction, reality and perception, seem to blur more with each passing day, Mehretu’s work feels especially vital, offering a space to reflect, to question, and ultimately, to imagine new possibilities.
