Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

SFU Galleries

  • Julie Mehretu, Untitled, 2006, watercolour on paper. Courtesy of The Project (NY), Collection of Joy and David Schumeister.

  • Julie Mehretu, Stadia Excerpt (a small resurgence), 2004, ink and acrylic on canvas laid over wood panel.

  • Julie Mehretu, Looking Back to a Bright New Future, 2003, ink and acrylic on canvas.

  • Julie Mehretu, Reflexive Drawings, 2007, installation view, SFU Gallery. Photo: SFU LIDC.

Julie Mehretu: Reflexive Drawings

October 27 – December 15, 2007
SFU Gallery

Julie Mehretu is a New York-based artist whose extraordinary paintings have been seen in recent exhibitions at MOMA in New York, the Louisiana Museum for Moderne Kunst in Denmark and the Kunstverein in Hannover. This exhibition, featuring 24 recent drawings and paintings, is her first in Canada.

Mehretu works in what she calls “a complex drawn language of marks that behave, battle, migrate and civilize”. She uniquely fuses contradictory elements of chaos and order, organized pattern, and abstract but loose gestures. Mehretu's drawings conflate disparate spaces and historical timelines, as they investigate the construction of individual identity in the post-colonial urban context.

Julie Mehretu was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and was raised in Michigan, where she obtained her BA from Kalamazoo College. She also studied in Dakar, Senegal and went on to complete her MFA at the Rhode Island School of Design in 1997. Mehretu is a recent recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Award (2005).

Curated by Bill Jeffries.

Events

Opening Reception
Saturday, October 27, 2007, 3–5pm at SFU

Artist Talk: Julie Mehretu
Thursday, October 25, 2007, 7pm
Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design, 1400 Johnston Street, Granville Island, Vancouver
South Building Lecture Hall 301. Co-Sponsored by the SFU Gallery and ECI.

Lunchtime Tours of the Exhibition
Tuesday, November 6, 12:05pm
Wednesday, November 7, 12:35pm

Print