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Julie Mehretu Paintings Debut in Los Angeles at REDCAT

View the exhibit

May 27-August 8
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 27, 7-10 p.m.
Artist's CHAT: Sunday, May 30, 3 p.m.
Free admission

Los Angeles, April 26, 2004 -- An exhibition of paintings by New York-based artist Julie Mehretu is opening at the Gallery at the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT) on May 27 and continuing through August 8. This will be the first time that Mehretu's paintings have been shown in Los Angeles. The exhibit, Julie Mehretu: Drawing into Painting, is curated by Douglas Fogle of the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

The exhibition's opening reception is held on May 27 at 7 p.m. Mehretu also is giving an artist's talk on May 30 at 3 p.m. as part of the Gallery at REDCAT's CHAT series. Both events are free and open to the public.

Mehretu's language of abstraction borrows from real and imagined geography, architecture, history, mapping and photojournalism to navigate the unstable terrain of what she has identified as "a narrative filled with urgency and optimism, like a strange dream." The underlying structure of Mehretu's work consists of charged public spaces -- government buildings, museums, stadiums, schools and airports -- drawn in the form of maps and diagrams. Into these now decontextualized, highly controlled spaces the artist inscribes her own narrative through the incorporation of personal markings within layers of Mylar, vellum and paper. "I am interested in the multifaceted layers of place, space and time that impact the formation of personal and community identity," the artist has explained.

Mehretu's work has been presented in numerous exhibitions, including Freestyle (2001) at The Studio Museum in Harlem, Painting at the Edge of the World (2001) at the Walker Art Center, and the 2004 Whitney Biennial.

Julie Mehretu: Drawing into Painting features 12 paintings completed in 2003. According to exhibition curator Douglas Fogle, "Julie Mehretu attempts to put the world into the world. At the onset of a millennium defined by the twin forces of globalization and the legacy of September 11, she is producing a new form of history painting. Her sources range from the geometric abstractions and revolutionary utopian impulses of Kasimir Malevich, Piet Mondrian and Wassily Kandinsky to the iconographic contours of contemporary skateboard graphics and tattoos, comic books, institutional architectural schematics, and news photographs of riots and uprisings. Filtering these strands through her highly idiosyncratic lexicon of signs and symbols, she creates synthetic worlds in which historical and fictional landscapes collide."

Julie Mehretu: Drawing into Painting is organized by the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. It is made possible by generous support from the Voyager Foundation Fund of the Minneapolis Foundation. The exhibition has traveled to the Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art in Palm Beach, FL and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, NY.

The Gallery at REDCAT is open Tuesday through Sunday, from noon until 6 p.m. or curtain. Admission to the Gallery is free.

CalArts, the first U.S. higher educational institution to integrate the visual and performing arts under one roof, is recognized as the nation's leading laboratory for the arts. Housing six schools -- Art, Critical Studies, Dance, Film/Video, Music and Theater -- CalArts embraces creative cross-pollination among diverse art forms and traditions, and strongly encourages each artist to pursue his or her vision within a broad context of social and cultural understanding.

REDCAT, an interdisciplinary arts center that allows Los Angeles audience to follow the latest developments in the performing, visual and media arts from around the world, is a natural extension of CalArts' educational mission. Its programming features a wide-ranging array of interdisciplinary performances, music and dance concerts, multimedia performances, theater works, film and video screenings, readings, and art exhibitions.

REDCAT inaugural season sponsors include Shamrock Holdings, KCRW FM, The L.A. Weekly, and The Standard Hotel, with additional media sponsorship provided by The Downtown News.

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