What Is Julie Mehretu Known For
In the realm of contemporary art, few names carry the visual intensity, philosophical depth, and cultural resonance of Julie Mehretu. Her vast, layered, cartographic abstractions speak to a globalized world in flux, chaotic yet structured, personal yet universal. With a career spanning over two decades, Mehretu has emerged as one of the most influential artists of her generation. Her work is a masterclass in layering, of mediums, meanings, geographies, and histories.
This story delves into the multifaceted world of Julie Mehretu: how she creates her artwork, what she’s known for, the cost and location of her pieces, and her place in the evolving narrative of contemporary art.
Who Is Julie Mehretu?
Julie Mehretu was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1970, to an Ethiopian father and an American mother. In 1977, amidst political turmoil in Ethiopia, her family relocated to the United States, settling in Michigan. This early experience of displacement and dual cultural identity deeply influenced her worldview and continues to reverberate through her work.
Mehretu received her Bachelor of Arts from Kalamazoo College and later earned a Master of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 1997. Her rise in the art world was swift. By the early 2000s, Mehretu was already celebrated as a voice of a new global consciousness, and her works were being acquired by major institutions around the world.
Julie Mehretu is best known for her large-scale abstract paintings and prints that fuse cartography, architecture, history, politics, and abstraction. Her pieces are dense and dynamic, often resembling cities viewed from above, maps in flux, or explosive blueprints of social systems. She overlays various types of visual information, urban grids, political documents, architectural renderings, only to deconstruct and reimagine them through mark-making, line, and gesture.
Her work is not just visual; it’s conceptual, political, and emotional. She addresses the chaos and complexity of modern life, migration, displacement, colonialism, war, capitalism, through visual languages that defy straightforward narrative yet remain powerfully communicative.
What Art Style Is Julie Mehretu Associated With?
Julie Mehretu’s work is a unique confluence of abstraction, geometric mapping, architectural drafting, and gestural mark-making. Critics have tried to categorize her within a number of movements, but her style defies easy classification.
However, she is most frequently associated with:
Abstract Expressionism
Post-Minimalism
Cartographic Abstraction
Conceptual Art
Her work is often described as a synthesis of:
Kandinsky’s abstraction
Cy Twombly’s gestural lyricism
Futurism’s energy and dynamism
Architectural drawing and urban planning imagery
The result is a style that feels both ancient and futuristic, like a living diagram of civilization in motion.
How Does Julie Mehretu Make Her Artwork?
Mehretu’s process is labor-intensive, layered, and collaborative. Her works can take months or even years to complete. Here’s a step-by-step overview of her artistic process:
1. Research and Conceptualization
Each work begins with an idea, often grounded in political, historical, or geographical themes. She researches locations, events, and systems, collecting data and images.
2. Layered Mapping and Architectural Drawings
She often begins with architectural blueprints, urban plans, or political cartography. These base layers are digitally projected onto large canvases, which she and her studio assistants trace using graphite, ink, or acrylic.
3. Layering and Painting
Once the foundational drawing is complete, she begins adding layers of paint. These layers may include:
Sweeping brushstrokes
Splashes, smears, and drips
Calligraphic markings
Spray paint
Stencils
Her work often incorporates airbrushing techniques, contributing to the illusion of depth and complexity.
4. Erasure and Reconstruction
Just as important as addition is subtraction. She often sands or erases parts of the work, revealing or obscuring layers beneath. This interplay of visibility and concealment is central to her visual language.
5. Collaboration
In her large-scale works, Mehretu works closely with a team of assistants, who help realize the technical aspects of tracing, layering, and painting. Still, the core ideas, gestures, and execution remain deeply personal.
What Are Julie Mehretu’s Most Famous Artworks?
Mehretu has created numerous iconic pieces throughout her career. Here are some of her most renowned works:
1. “Mural” (2009–2010)
Commissioned by Goldman Sachs, this 80-foot-long painting is one of her most significant and controversial works. It’s displayed in the lobby of the bank’s New York headquarters. Despite public criticism over the association with Wall Street, Mehretu used the opportunity to explore capitalism’s visual and historical landscape.
2. “Stadia” Series (2004)
This three-part series, “Stadia I,” “Stadia II,” and “Stadia III”, depicts imagined stadiums as battlegrounds of nationalism, globalization, and spectacle. These works merge sports, politics, and celebration in sweeping, dynamic compositions. “Stadia II” (2004) is housed in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York.
3. “Mogamma: A Painting in Four Parts” (2012)
This tetraptych was inspired by the Arab Spring and focuses on the Mogamma building in Cairo, Egypt, a symbol of bureaucracy and revolution. Each panel represents a different geographic and political context, yet they function as a single, unified artwork.
4. “Howl, eon (I, II, III)” (2017)
Created in response to the Syrian Civil War and the refugee crisis, this triptych invokes the poetic language of destruction and rebuilding. These works were included in her 2019–2021 mid-career retrospective at the Whitney Museum.
5. “Hineni (E. 3:4)” (2018)
One of her most emotionally resonant pieces, this painting was created during a time of personal loss and political upheaval. The title references the Hebrew word “Hineni,” meaning “Here I am,” adding layers of spiritual and existential significance.
How Many Artworks Does Julie Mehretu Have?
Julie Mehretu has produced hundreds of works, ranging from:
Monumental canvases
Drawings and sketches
Prints and lithographs
Public commissions
While there is no definitive count, estimates suggest she has created over 300 major works, not including sketches or collaborative projects.
Many of her works are held in major institutions, including:
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York
The Whitney Museum of American Art
Tate Modern, London
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
What Materials Does Julie Mehretu Use?
Mehretu’s materials reflect the hybrid nature of her art. She uses both traditional and modern media, including:
Acrylic paint
Ink (India ink, archival ink)
Graphite
Pencil
Charcoal
Spray paint
Airbrush
Tracing and projection tools
Digital sources (maps, blueprints)
Mylar and translucent materials
She often works on large canvases, sometimes stretching across entire walls or gallery spaces, allowing her complex ideas to unfold on a monumental scale.
Where Can Julie Mehretu’s Artwork Be Found?
Julie Mehretu’s artwork is exhibited globally, both in permanent museum collections and temporary exhibitions. Some key locations include:
Permanent Collections:
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Tate Modern, London
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
The Art Institute of Chicago
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
Centre Pompidou, Paris
The Broad, Los Angeles
Recent Exhibitions:
Whitney Museum of American Art (2019–2021): Her mid-career retrospective, co-organized with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, was a critical and public success.
Gagosian Gallery: As one of the most prominent galleries representing her, Gagosian frequently exhibits new work by Mehretu.
High Museum of Art, Atlanta
The Studio Museum in Harlem
Public Commissions:
Goldman Sachs Headquarters, NYC (“Mural”)
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) Lobby Installation
How Much Does Julie Mehretu’s Artwork Cost?
Julie Mehretu’s artworks are among the most expensive by any living female artist. Her auction prices have steadily increased, reflecting her critical acclaim and institutional demand.
Notable Sales:
“Untitled” (2001) sold at Sotheby’s in 2013 for $1 million.
“Black Ground (Deep Light)” (2006) sold for $4.2 million in 2021.
Her auction record was broken when “Retopistics: A Renegade Excavation” (2001) sold for $6.5 million in 2021.
Estimated Price Range:
Prints and smaller works: $20,000 – $150,000
Medium-sized paintings: $500,000 – $2 million
Monumental works: $3 million – $6.5+ million
Collectors include major institutions, art foundations, and private collectors worldwide.
Why Is Julie Mehretu Important?
Julie Mehretu’s significance extends beyond the visual. In an age of global upheaval, migration, protest, and connectivity, she offers a language for the unspeakable, a way to visualize complexity, fragmentation, and interconnectedness. Her work challenges viewers to confront the systems that shape their lives, political borders, historical trauma, cultural narratives, and to question the maps we’ve been given.
She is also a trailblazer for women artists, queer artists, and artists of African descent, reshaping the modern canon to include more diverse and expansive voices.
The Mapmaker of Modern Emotion
Julie Mehretu doesn’t just paint pictures, she constructs landscapes of thought. Her work is both cerebral and visceral, navigating the edges of abstraction and representation, order and chaos. Through thousands of marks and layers, she offers not answers, but deep, essential questions: Where are we now? Where have we been? Where are we going?
For those who stand before her canvases, the experience is immersive, like falling into a world where time, place, and memory converge. In this convergence lies her genius: transforming the complexity of the world into art that is at once deeply personal and unmistakably universal.
