JULIE MEHRETU
Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, 1970

Conjured Parts (Sekhmet), 2016
Ink and acrylic on canvas
243, 8 x 304, 8 cm.

The intricate, multi-layered compositions of Julie Mehretu express the complexity of a globalized realm in which space and time have been profoundly transformed by the advent of high-speed networked communication. They depict a world in a state of chaos, wherein antagonisms and conflicts of all kinds seem to dominate; they denote the artist’s persistent engagement with social and political urgencies.

A keen listener and reader, Mehretu collects emblematic images of current and historical events, which often become a source of inspiration if not a direct base for the creation of a new piece. This painting is part of a recent body of work, which relates to the civil war in Syria, and more specifically to the destruction of Aleppo as an epitome of disaster. The physical erasure of an entire city and the human drama it represents for tens of thousands of people is also an extremely powerful and symbolic demonstration of autocratic power. Yet for most people on the planet, it has only been materialized as images, and in that sense lacks concreteness.

Layers of brushstrokes and ink markings are applied atop a manipulated press image, perhaps representing healing and reconstruction, but also the way news images that come to prominence are then buried in the collective unconscious, as they disappear from newspapers and screens. The title evokes magic or sorcery, but also invokes the intervention of deities: Sekhmet is an Egyptian goddess of war, also known as a goddess of healing.