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Julie Mehretu

Have you ever seen a painting that appears to move? Julie Mehretu’s (mehr-EH-too) monumental abstract paintings do just that, through spinning arrangements of lines, shapes, and color.
Motion has been a driving force in Mehretu’s work and life. Born in Ethiopia in 1970 to an Ethiopian father and an American mother, Mehretu and her family immigrated to the United States in 1977. She’s since lived in Michigan, Rhode Island, California, New York, Germany, and Senegal. Her dynamic, collage-like paintings whirl with energy and excitement, and have made her a leading contemporary artist.