Both born in Ethiopia and now New York-based, Samuelsson and Mehretu have been friends for decades. Despite working in different fields, they hold each other’s work in the highest regard and have supported each other in their respective pursuits. (Whitney Museum of American Art)
Press Release
Whitney Museum of American Art
COOKING AND CONVERSATION WITH MARCUS SAMUELSSON, JULIE MEHRETU, AND RUJEKO HOCKLEY
Tuesday, August 3
6 pm
Online, via Zoom
During this special event, chef Marcus Samuelsson and painter Julie Mehretu, along with Rujeko Hockley, the Whitney’s Arnhold Associate Curator, will talk about art, food, and much more.
Both born in Ethiopia and now New York-based, Samuelsson and Mehretu have been friends for decades. Despite working in different fields, they hold each other’s work in the highest regard and have supported each other in their respective pursuits. Join us on Zoom and follow along as chef Samuelsson prepares a special recipe just for the occasion, which coincides with the final days of Mehretu’s mid-career survey at the Whitney.
Free with registration
This event will have automated closed captions through Zoom. Live captioning is available for public programs and events upon request with seven business days advance notice. We will make every effort to provide accommodation for requests made outside of that window of time. To place a request, please contact us ataccessfeedback@whitney.org or (646) 666-5574 (voice). Relay and voice calls welcome.
Julie Mehretu
Mar 25–Aug 8, 2021
For more than two decades, Julie Mehretu (b. 1970, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) has been engaged in a deep exploration of painting. She creates new forms and finds unexpected resonances by drawing from the histories of art and human civilization—from Babylonian stelae to architectural sketches, from European history painting to the sites and symbols of African liberation movements. Some of Mehretu’s imagery and titles hint at their representational origins, but her work remains steadfastly abstract.
Comprising approximately thirty paintings and forty works on paper dating from 1996 to the present day, this mid-career survey of Julie Mehretu presents the most comprehensive overview of her practice to date. She plays with the parameters of abstraction, architecture, landscape, scale, and, most recently, figuration. At its core, Mehretu’s art is invested in our lived experiences, and examines how forces such as migration, capitalism, and climate change impact human populations—and possibilities.
Julie Mehretu is organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The exhibition is curated by Christine Y. Kim, curator of contemporary art at LACMA, with Rujeko Hockley, Arnhold Associate Curator at the Whitney.
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