Parallels Three - Julie Mehretu & Gemini L.A.
Unfortunately, this ‘Parallel’ comes as a closing review of the show Julie Mehretu at Gemini G.E.L.: Six Bardos and close to the end artist’s mid-career retrospective at LACMA. Nonetheless there are still many reasons why I wanted to write about this parallel.
First of all, Julie Mehretu rocks and if you don’t know about her you should. So here it briefly goes: she was born in 1970 in Ethiopia and now lives and works in New York. She attained her MFA at the Rhode Island School of Design. The premise of her work is architectural archival drawings of cities, publics squares, etc., which she overlays with spontaneous, powerful gestures which derive from Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art.
Secondly, I must admit that Gemini G.E.L. is probably my favourite gallery in L.A. The gallery was founded in 1966 with a focus on prints. The gallery is located on Melrose Avenue. When entering, the exhibition space initially seems small, in reality it develops on the second floor of an architecturally splendid adjacent building designed by Frank Gehry. Also, a notable part of the gallery is dedicated to where the prints are made.
Gemini has since its founding given artists the opportunity to work directly with the printers, creating unique editions conceived for the gallery. I honestly profoundly believe in their mission and that all the prints they have created show, in a most transparent way, the hand of the artist that conceived them, going all the way from Claes Oldenburg, Richard Serra and many others among which the new prints created by Julie Mehretu.
These extremely complex six new acquaints were inspired by a trip to China. In these works, the gestural symbols, typical of the artist’s oeuvre, are somewhat affected by calligraphy while still maintaining characteristics of Abstract Expressionism. Two of the prints from this series, Six Bardos: Luminous Appearance and Six Bardos: Transmigration were included in the retrospective at LACMA which will be travelling to the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. This show offers a unique opportunity to peek into the evolution of the artist’s work. On display are her hypnotic large canvases where the foreground is a weaving of architecture drawings which are overlapped by spontaneous coloured gestures. As you walk through her works, you will have the chance to experience these quick paint strokes become more and more predominant on the canvases.
This being said, while I highly recommend trying to see this mid-career show, I might suggest trying to catch it in New York where you will also be able to enjoy the Whitney’s permanent collection. In fact, LACMA’s permanent collection is at the moment closed because the galleries hosting it are under reconstruction. The old galleries will be replaced by a new sinuous and impressive space designed by architect Peter Zumthor. It will take time, but I look forward to seeing it completed. The projects look interesting!
LACMA, Los Angeles, Julie Mehretu, 3 November, 2019 – 22 March, 2020
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Julie Mehretu, 26 June – 20 September 2020
Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles, Julie Mehretu at Gemini G.E.L.: Six Bardos, 1 November 2019 – 10 January 2020
Erica Rompani
Reviews Editor, MADE IN BED