Julie Mehretu: History maps in a Venetian palace

In room 13 of the Palazzo Grassi in Venice, a huge painting by the artist hangs under an ornate ceiling Julie Mehretu (Adis Ababa, 1970) entitled Damascus. It is a complex large-format work (almost six by two and a half meters) consisting of six structures that together show an architectural view of the city of Damascus in 2016, years after the start of the war. The buildings are obscured by dark lines. It could be the Guernica of Syria.

This is one of the more than 50 works Mehretu has created over the last 25 years and will be on display at the Venetian Palace for two weeks. This is one of the largest exhibitions of the American artist of Ethiopian origin in Europe: a collection of paintings and prints created over a quarter of a century, some of which are current, between 2021 and 2023.

The exhibition “is a free and non-chronological journey through his work.” “His practice is inspired by art history, geography, history, social struggles or revolutionary movements,” says Caroline Bourgeois, curator of the exhibition and curator of the Pinault Collection.

The exhibition includes 17 works that belong to the collection Francois Pinault, the second richest man in France and owner of the Kering empire, the luxury giant that includes brands such as Gucci, Saint Laurent and Balenciaga. Franois Pinault is not only a businessman, but also one of the largest collectors of contemporary art in the world. The collection includes more than 10,000 works created from the 1960s to the present day.

The businessman has several museums. In Venice he acquired two enclaves: the Palazzo Grassi and the Punta della Dogana, which opened their doors in 2006 and 2009 respectively. The Bourse de Commerce opened in Paris in 2021. In the building of the former stock exchange, it has become one of the references of contemporary art in the French capital.

Julie Mehretu is one of the best represented artists in the Pinault Collection. His work is complex and engaging: he uses large formats with very elaborate, multi-level structures in which he overlays layers of historical events, memories or experiences. In some works he reflects skeletons of cities obscured by the environments and sensations he introduces through lines. These are rather chaotic and detract from the clear geometric lines.

Many of her works “deal with current events, such as the war in Syria or the danger of migration: they remind us that, even if she uses metaphorical language typical of painting, the artist is by no means removed from the world and its challenges “, which is not surprising given its history,” explains Bruno RacineDirector of Palazzo Grassi.

Mehretu was born in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) in 1970 and now works between New York and Berlin. His family fled the country after the failed revolution and settled in the United States. She was seven years old. In his work he therefore always deals with the role of the diaspora and the position of the individual in various social crises. After the revolutions of the Arab Spring and the Syrian War, his work was forgotten.

The test is called ensemble (Together) because in it Mehretu has dialogues with other artists who are friends or with whom she had a connection, such as the British Shut up, Deanthey will go Nairy BaghramianPakistan Huma Bhabha or the American David Hammons. They all deal in some way with the topic of diaspora, exile, war or migration.

“Most of us are there ensemble“We belong to the generation that grew up at the beginning of the postcolonial period, and we had to face the violent processes that resulted from it,” explains the artist in a dialogue with the curator of the exhibition. Caroline Bourgeois.

Rise of the new suprematists (2001) represents, through complex overlays, the different spaces that form our references and conveys the idea of ​​mobility. Black City (2007) presents hybrid and cosmopolitan city scenes. TRANSpaintings It is the most recent (2023) and it is the first time the artist has taken her pictures off the walls. The painting-sculptures stand in aluminum frames in the middle of the rooms and let light through.

On the two floors of the Venetian palace, moments and territories are explored under its decorated ceilings “Story maps without location”, as I described it back then. Today he explains that Pakistan, Iran…, countries from which the artist friends come, “are places where the revolution or the promises of emancipation have been completely confiscated and broken (…) All of these projects have failed in some way .”, but the promises of these different modernities are at the heart of a particular drive or belief in the possibility that there might be something else.”