Date of Birth: November 28, 1970
Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius
Date of Death: [None]
Biography
Julie Mehretu is an Ethiopian-American contemporary visual artist known for her large-scale, abstract paintings and drawings that layer architectural elements with personal and political histories. Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Mehretu moved with her family to Michigan in 1977 to escape political turmoil. She earned a BA in Art from Kalamazoo College in 1992 and an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1997. Mehretu’s work often explores themes of urban experience, social upheaval, and the impact of globalization. Her complex, multi-layered compositions fuse elements of mapping, landscape, and abstraction to reflect the densely interconnected nature of modern life. Mehretu’s work has been exhibited in major museums and galleries around the world, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the MacArthur Fellowship in 2005 and the U.S. Department of State’s Medal of Arts in 2015. Mehretu currently lives and works in New York City and Berlin.
5 Interesting Facts about Julie Mehretu
1. Julie Mehretu was one of the artists selected for the 2010 Whitney Biennial.
2. She was awarded the MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship in 2005.
3. Mehretu’s painting “Black Ground (Deep Light)” sold for $4.6 million at auction in 2019.
4. She was commissioned to create a monumental, site-specific work for the atrium of the Goldman Sachs headquarters in New York.
5. Mehretu’s work often incorporates architectural plans, city maps, and weather patterns.
5 Most Interesting Quotes from Julie Mehretu
1. “My work is all about a sense of place and displacement.”
2. “The paintings become a kind of meditation on how we construct and how we experience the world.”
3. “Abstraction allows me to engage with a multiplicity of ideas and experiences.”
4. “I’m interested in the ways people build and leave traces – how they move in cities, how they leave a mark.”
5. “I see my paintings as a way of exploring the complexities of contemporary life.”
Highest Net Worth Achieved
Julie Mehretu’s highest net worth is estimated to be around $20 million.
Children
Julie Mehretu has two children with her former partner Jessica Rankin.
Relevant Links
1. [Julie Mehretu at Marian Goodman Gallery](https://www.mariangoodman.com/artists/54-julie-mehretu/
2. [Julie Mehretu at Whitney Museum of American Art](https://whitney.org/artists/7146
3. [Julie Mehretu’s work at MoMA](https://www.moma.org/artists/28490
4. [Julie Mehretu’s biography on Art21](https://art21.org/artist/julie-mehretu/
5. [Julie Mehretu’s profile on Artsy](https://www.artsy.net/artist/julie-mehretu
