«I'm very nervous about the future of America, about the next elections. You should know what it means to expect someone who doesn't represent you to come to government, right? I am also worried about the violent use of certain technology, the role of social media which creates an often fake reality for us and I am scared of the power of money, capable of deciding electoral campaigns.” From her home in New York, Julie Mehretu, in a good hour of chat, she proves that there are no taboo topics. Let's start with the money, then. Mehretu53 years old, born in Addis Ababa, since last autumn he has been the most quoted artist of African origin in the world: one of his paintings, sold at auction by Sotheby's for 9.32 million dollars, broke the industry record.
«I know that money matters and I was shocked when I learned the final sales figure. But, stop everyone: what numbers does the art market produce? My record is only a sixth of the value achieved by male artists at the top of the charts. And so, yes, I'm happy to
having knocked down a wall, but I hope that this is just the beginning of a more equitable consideration, including economic, of the work of us women artists.” We ask her what relationship she has with money: “I try to spend it in the best way and share it with those in need, but I think that individual charity should not replace the social state which should leave no one behind.” Mehretu knows it doesn't work exactly like that: «We live in a period of
crisis and I say this with full knowledge of the facts: racism is still a big problem.”
The topic burns on her skin, of course. Mehretu she is the daughter of an Ethiopian father, a university professor, and an American mother, a Montessori educator: «My parents got married as soon as the law against mixed marriages was repealed, in '67: when I was little, in Ethiopia in the seventies, there was a lot of excitement, it seemed that everything was possible. And instead look at us now, how we are reduced.”
Mehretu spent her adolescence in Michigan, studied in Zimbabwe and Rhode Island and then again in Senegal, then worked and lived in Berlin and has settled in New York for several years: “I'm used to handling diversity”, He says. «From this life straddling different cultures I was left with the desire for “a commune”: I remember that as soon as we arrived from Africa in America, it seemed strange to me that we blacks were in the minority, that there were so many whites around. As a family we frequented a close community of Ethiopians and then little by little it became Detroit
more multicultural.” Julie Mehretu now applies that innate need for community to art: «For this reason I called many friends to exhibit with me at Grassi Palace. Every work is the result of chats with them, every work is ultimately collective. As an artist I like being in the world and being part of a group. My creations are born from deep human bonds that I need to be who I am.”
Curated by Caroline Bourgeois with the same artist, the Julie Mehretu's first major solo exhibition in Italy will occupy the two floors of Palazzo Grassi in Venice from 17 March to 6 January, with around sixty paintings and engravings that we show you in preview here. They are works created over the last 25 years, some from the Pinault Collection, others on loan from museums and private collections, in dialogue with works by artist friends Nairy Baghramian, Huma Bhabha, Robin Coste Lewis, Tacita Dean, David Hammons, Paul Pfeiffer and also by his ex-partner, the Australian Jessica Rankin.
«It couldn't have been anything else: we still share a lot with Jessica and I can't wait to come to Italy with our children. Rome has represented a solid meeting point for my family of origin for years: my father taught there for a long time and I have indelible memories of it. To Venice
I will definitely see the Art Biennale curated by Adriano Pedrosa (the 60th edition will open on April 20, ed.) which this year has a title that sounds like a moral imperative: Foreigners Everywhere. What a perfect choice: each of us should ask ourselves what it means to feel like a stranger, to the world and to ourselves.”
Mehretu adds: «Italy knows better than any other country what is happening in the Mediterranean: the fear of what is different and the terror of migration lead to closed-off and distrustful behaviour. Even in America we have seen that the solutions adopted so far do not work: it's time to invent new ones and I believe that art can activate this change”. In times when figuration is so fashionable, Mehretu focuses on abstraction: «I have always painted like this. Abstract painting offers a place where I can imagine, in this space anything can happen. I think it is the mirror of the reality we are living in, a world that still lacks the words to define itself. Let's look for them, together.”
Source: Vanity Fair
I’m Susan Karen, a professional writer and editor at World Stock Market. I specialize in Entertainment news, writing stories that keep readers informed on all the latest developments in the industry. With over five years of experience in creating engaging content and copywriting for various media outlets, I have grown to become an invaluable asset to any team.
