New York
The work in Wangechi Mutu’s recent exhibition-installed to create a loose circle inside a square space- was aesthetically sophisticated, empathic, and symbolic. On the surface, Mutu’s 23 new sculptures are formal and classical, a visual contrast to her sensorial mixed-media installation, A Fantastic Journey, which traveled to four U.S. museums during 2013–14. The elegant, finished surfaces in burnt sienna, brown, gray, and black conjure the earth-its wounds and diseases, people, and species nearing extinction. Mutu’s core message, which includes a hope that we might help the planet and each other, is stronger than ever. Water Woman and This Second Dreamer transform personal, mythological, and ethnological elements into stunning bronzes …see the entire review in the print version of Jul/Aug’s Sculpture magazine.
