Stadia II 2004

Julie Mehretu made this painting, Stadia II, with acrylic and ink on canvas. I imagine her in the studio layering images on top of each other, almost like she is creating an archeological dig of accumulated moments. There are layers and layers of information competing for our attention. Flags and banners are scattered across the top, with lines of black ink creating swooping vectors across the picture plane. These marks feel frenetic, like a swarm of bees, and lend the painting an energetic charge. Looking at this piece I can’t help but think about the work of Kandinsky. Mehretu is interested in history, globalization, and identity, and like so many abstract painters she is in an ongoing conversation, building on what others have done to make something entirely her own. The painting becomes a site of inquiry and a form of expression, embracing all the ambiguity and uncertainty of our modern world.