Curated by Suzanne Cotter, MCA Australia Director, with Jane Devery, MCA Australia Senior Curator Exhibitions, Julie Mehretu: A Transcore of the Radical Imaginatory charts Mehretu’s continually evolving investigations into the possibilities of abstraction and its vocabulary of mark making, from her earliest works on paper to her experimental printmaking, and most recently, the TRANSpaintings series which encourage visitors to experience painting in an entirely new way.
 
Among the exhibition’s highlights are Femenine in nine (2023-2024), a cycle of exuberant black paintings inscribed with iridescent gestural marks. Named after the 1974 musical composition by Julius Eastman, they offer a visual and sonic meditation on conditions of darkness and instability that define the contemporary moment.
 
Also featured are the TRANSpaintings (2023–2024), seven of which are presented for the first time. Supported by the sculptures Upright Brackets by Berlin-based sculptor Nairy Baghramian, these freestanding paintings are physically and visually dynamic and propose an experience of painting as both embodied and participatory. 

Julie Mehretu who is in Sydney for the opening of the MCA Australia exhibition spoke about her work, ‘There are myriad positive and negative aspects to the world we are living in. It’s overwhelming... the accelerated pace of information can feel difficult to negotiate. I am deeply committed to the language of abstraction as a place to negotiate these complexities and contradictions from a nuanced and subjective place.’ 

MCA Australia Director, Suzanne Cotter said about the exhibition: ‘The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia is proud to be presenting to audiences in Australia this remarkable exhibition by an artist who is undoubtedly one of today’s most exciting living painters and whose dynamic language of abstraction speaks so powerfully to the contemporary world in which we live. The experience of Mehretu’s paintings is nothing short of a visual and physical event. We are proud to present this year’s Sydney International Art Series with Julie Mehretu to build upon the MCA’s history of introducing to the public in Australia the work of today’s most influential artists.’ 

Documentary
A new documentary Julie Mehretu: Palimpsest will be also screen as part of the exhibition. The film traces the artist’s mid-career survey exhibition, co-organised by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. It shows the artist’s preparations for the exhibition, leading up to its installation and realisation at LACMA in 2020. The film also includes extensive commentary by Mehretu on her work, process, and the evolution of her career, alongside interviews with art world friends and associates.

Publication
Published by MCA Australia to coincide with the exhibition, Julie Mehretu: A Transcore of the Radical Imaginatory (hardcover, 224pp, $95) features a comprehensive overview of works in the exhibition and contributions by American author and rock writer Erik Morse, Suzanne Cotter and a conversation between Julie Mehretu, Australian artist Daniel Boyd and Jane Devery. The catalogue is available to purchase from the MCA store and online.

Public Program
A series of talks, workshops, film screenings and performances will accompany the exhibition, including a free Family Space: Drawn Together which offers free hands-on artmaking activities, self-led Drop-in Drawing Sunday sessions accompanied by a musical playlist by Mehretu. A series of three Up Late: Julie Mehretu events will take place on Wednesday nights throughout January 2025, presented as part of Sydney Festival. The exhibition will also be featured as part of January 2025 Sydney Festival season.

A special in-conversation event between Julie Mehretu and MCA Director Suzanne Cotter, will be held on 29 November 2024 at 5pm – 6pm