American artist Julie Mehretu has unveiled three new series of paintings as part of a solo exhibition at White Cube London. Housed at the gallery’s Bermondsey location, the show probes into the war in Ukraine, the US Capitol insurrection of January 6, 2021, as well as geopolitical power dynamics, and widespread displacement.
Entitled They departed for their own country another way (a 9x9x9 hauntology), the show is divided between three series of works, containing nine paintings made with ink and acrylic on canvas. Appearing like graffitied walls that have been removed from the city, Mehretu presents a dialogue between her large-scale works with an abstract sculpture by Iranian-German visual artist, Nairy Baghramian in the 9x9x9 gallery.
In the latter, S’asseyant (2022), a pair of slab cast aluminum structures lay decrepitly on the floor, implying the presence of one that has since left or the detritus of a tragic event. Conceptually, both the painting and sculpture are born from erasure and fragmentation, imploring the viewer to ruminate on their imperfections and the “liberation of the figure, or of representation itself,” notes the gallery.
Also on view is a series of new TRANSpaintings arranged on aluminum frames, created with translucent materials to emit nebulous forms, that on first glance appear static, but are awakened with movement to “create riotous landscapes in perpetual flux, mirroring our contemporary condition of rupture and uncertainty.”
The exhibition will be on view in London until November 5.
Out in Los Angeles, Hypeart will spotlight the immigrant communities that define the City of Angels in a new group exhibition.
White Cube
144-152, Bermondsey St
London SE1 3TQ
