Julie Mehretu Myriads, Only By Dark 2014
© Julie Mehretu. Courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery
Architectural and geographical references have been central to Julie Mehretu’s investigations in both her paintings and prints. She is particularly interested in architecture as a reflection of politics and power structures. Known for her use of hard-edge geometries and delicate lines recalling blueprints, floor plans, and urban maps, in recent years her works have become increasingly layered with a variety of gestural marks.
This single work consists of four separate large-scale prints—titled unfolded body map, mathematics of droves, indigene, and origin—each densely layered using multiple printing techniques. Each panel is printed using three copper plates that emboss the paper when put through a press, dividing each composition into thirds in a manner that evokes the folds of an oversized map. The panels present thin, delicate lines combined with dense patterns that recall dripping paint, graffiti, or handprints. Much of the energy conveyed by these marks is inspired by events related to the Arab Spring, which the artist has followed closely and addressed in her work since 2012. Body references play an important role in this new work, evident in both the mark-making and compositions of each print, and in several of their titles.
Identification
Title
Myriads, Only By Dark
Production Date
2014
Object Number
2016.44a-d
Credit Line
Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami, museum purchase with funds provided by the Helena Rubinstein Philanthropic Fund at The Miami Foundation
Copyright
© Julie Mehretu. Courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery
https://www.pamm.org/en/artwork/2016.44a-d
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Physical Qualities
Medium
Aquatint and spit bite on four panels
Dimensions
81 1/4 x 45 1/4 inches each
Visual Description
Myriads, Only By Dark, is a four-panel artwork by artist Julie Mehretu. Each of the four panels measures almost seven feet tall by nearly four feet wide, and they are all hung in portrait orientation, meaning that their longer side is aligned vertically. When hung together, the four panels are spaced with around two feet of wall between them. Altogether, the artwork stretches for over 16 feet across a wide gallery wall. These four panels are all covered in abstracted black ink markings. There are also long thin lines of blue, green, black, yellow, and red pigment, like quickly drawn crayon markings on a white wall, embellishing the four panels. The ghostly, scratch-like markings are a result of the aquatint process used by Mehretu. This printing process uses acid painted on a metal plate in order to capture brushstrokes and other paint-like details.
Starting with the left-most panel, the black ink markings resemble a chaotic etching. The marks are a random jumble of dots, thin lines, and handprints with splayed fingers. The repeating lines and fingers, as well as the collections of dots, makes the print look like a mish-mash of black and white tiger stripes or leopard spots. The black markings and patterns hover in the upper two thirds of the panel, leaving the bottom third relatively empty, with only faint streaks of ink reaching into the lower part of the panel. Moving to the left, the second, third and fourth panel are similar in composition to the first panel, but differ from the first. Each of the remaining panels has an empty space in its center, mostly free of black ink markings. The voids vary in shape and size, with the fourth and right most panel having a clearly defined diamond shape at its center.
