The Wine-Dark-Sea
2023
This monumental large format abstract painting by Julie Mehretu presents a dense, energetic field of black and cobalt blue lines, splatters, and gestural marks cascading across a luminous white ground. The composition evokes atmospheric turbulence and oceanic depth, characteristic of Mehretu's signature layered approach that merges cartographic abstraction with expressive mark making. A unique work created between 2023 and 2026, it was exhibited in the solo exhibition Julie Mehretu: Our Days, Like a Shadow (a non-abiding hauntology). The painting is not signed and is documented as a unique work with no edition.
- Medium
- Ink and acrylic on canvas
- Dimensions
Notes
Year range listed in document: 2023-2026. Exhibition: Julie Mehretu: Our Days, Like a Shadow (a non-abiding hauntology), showing Apr 13 - Jun 5. Documented as a unique work. Signature status: Not signed.
Collectors of Julie Mehretu
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Artists in conversation
Mark Bradford
American · b. 1961
Bradford similarly creates large scale layered abstract works that engage with social geography and urban systems, building up densely stratified surfaces that encode histories of marginalized communities.
Matthew Ritchie
British American · b. 1964
Ritchie produces expansive gestural works that fuse diagrammatic systems, cartographic references, and energetic mark making to construct layered narratives about information and history in ways that closely parallel Mehretu's approach.
Kara Walker
American · b. 1969
Walker uses large scale works on paper and canvas to interrogate histories of race, power, and social upheaval through bold graphic layering, sharing with Mehretu a concern for how historical forces shape collective experience.
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