Julie Mehretu at MCA Australia

Contemporary artist Julie Mehretu is renowned globally for large-scale, abstract paintings that erupt with colour, line, energy and movement. Over the last three decades, the powerful and often monumental works by this Addis Ababa-born, Harlem-based artist have solidified her position as one of the most significant painters of her generation.

On Friday November 29, Julie Mehretu: A Transcore of the Radical Imaginatory opens at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. It’s part of this year’s Sydney International Art Series program, which also includes retrospectives Magritte and Cao Fei: My City Is Yours. A Sydney exclusive, this is the first exhibition dedicated to Mehretu in the Asia-Pacific region. With a focus on new and recent works, the exhibition includes large-scale and medium-format paintings. Mehretu’s dynamic works are alive with intricately layered marks, lines and symbols, and address urgent contemporary issues from migration and global capitalism to climate change.

Presented alongside the exhibition is a series of tours and talks – including the artist herself in conversation with MCA director Suzanne Cotter on opening night. There’s also the chance to see Mehretu’s works after dark during Sydney Festival, when the gallery stays open until 9pm on Wednesdays for Art Up Late.

The exhibition will also be open for a special Valentine’s Day date night, when MCA Australia and Heaps Gay team up to mark the first day of Sydney Mardi Gras. (The event is free, with entry to the Julie Mehretu exhibition ticketed.)

Tickets to Julie Mehretu: A Transcore of the Radical Imaginatory are on sale now from mca.com.au. Entry is free for MCA members and visitors aged 17 and under.

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