Early morning light from my window.

 

I am Speaking, Can you hear me?, 2020

Paper pulp, wood glue, soil, charcoal, bone, feathers, shells, wood, and metal stands

With a jawbone and conch shell in lieu of ears, locked eyes, and engaged expressions, these two figures embody communication as a willful effort. Both bear skin markings reminiscent of ritual scarification--a tradition found not only in Africa, but also across the Pacific, Asia, and the Americas. For Wangechi Mutu, the modulation of the body surfaces into a repository of history and biography defines the ancient form of art and archive.

(This text appears on a placard displayed near the piece.)

 

Shavasana I and Shavasana II, 2019

Bronzes

Referring to the corpse pose in yogic practice, these sculptures underscore the deep suffering that engulfs Black people whose bodies are the targets of systemic injustices. Wangechi Mutu has worked for years with images of women's bodies as battlegrounds of social, cultural, and environmental crises. Equating this image of a blanketed human corpse to that of the Crucifixion, Mutu has made the Shavasanas to commemorate the continued sacrifices of Black people and other people of color, particularly of women, in societies throughout the world.

(This text appears on a placard displayed near the piece.)

Shavasana II, 2019

Bronze

Water Woman, 2017 Bronze

Inspired by her deep love and respect for oceans and seas--the vast bodies of water from which all living organisms are believed to have originally evolved--Water Woman pays homage to the folkloric pantheon of water spirits present in many world cultures, including those of Wangechi Mutu's native Africa. This sculpture is based on the mythological Nguva, a siren character found in East African coastal lore who was a hunter and captor of lost and weak morals.

(This text appears on a placard displayed near the piece.)

Detail of Water Woman, 2017

Bronze

Detail of Water Woman, 2017

Bronze

Sentinel IV, 2019

Paper pulp, wood glue, emulsion paint, charcoal, ink, wood, synthetic hair, and treated wood

Titled for its notion of protection, Sentinel IV is set against the backdrop of Rodin's Three Shades (1898). Originally made to sit atop the French artist's monumental sculptural group The Gates of Hell, his figures were concieved to watch the beastly feats of humanity's self-destruction. Wangechi Mutu's sentinel counters this vision of damnation by presenting an alternate possibility: that of triumph through a symbiotic alliance and the joint becoming of hu/wo/man and nature.

(This text appears on a placard displayed near the piece.)

Detail of Sentinel IV, 2019

Paper pulp, wood glue, emulsion paint, charcoal, ink, wood, synthetic hair, and treated wood

Sentinel IV, 2019

Detail of Sentinel IV, 2019

Detail of Sentinel IV

2019

Detail of Sentinel IV, 2019

Paper pulp, wood glue, emulsion paint, charcoal, ink, wood, synthetic hair, and treated wood

Detail of Sentinel IV, 2019

Rose Quartz, 2016

Red soil, paper pulp, wood glue, wood, and rose quartz

Rose Quartz, 2016

Red soil, paper pulp, wood glue, wood, and rose quartz

Detail of Rose Quartz, 2016

Red soil, paper pulp, wood glue, wood, and rose quartz

Detail of Rose Quartz, 2016

Red soil, paper pulp, wood glue, wood, and rose quartz

Ox Pecked

2018

I am Speaking, Can you hear me?, 2020

Paper pulp, wood glue, soil, charcoal, bone, feathers, shells, wood, and metal stands

Mirror Faced I, 2020

Mirror Faced II, 2020

Mirror Faced III, 2020

Red soil, gourd, mirror, beads, paper pulp, wood glue, and hair

With their elaborate hairstyles, introverted gazes, and delicate dress, these figures project a self-contained regality--one that is fully aware of its surroundings. Each has a mirror embedded into her face, an illusion to the African practice of lip plating as a form of body art. The mirrors alternately face up, down, and forward, capturing in their reflections the gallery and its content. In doing so, they invite the viewer to ponder different conceptions of art and its histories.

(This text appears on a placard displayed near the pieces.)

Mirror Faced I, 2020

Mirror Faced II, 2020

Mirror Faced III, 2020

Red soil, gourd, mirror, beads, paper pulp, wood glue, and hair

Mirror Faced I, 2020

Mirror Faced II, 2020

Mirror Faced III, 2020

Red soil, gourd, mirror, beads, paper pulp, wood glue, and hair

Mirror Faced I, 2020

Mirror Faced II, 2020

Mirror Faced III, 2020

Red soil, gourd, mirror, beads, paper pulp, wood glue, and hair

Mirror Faced I, 2020

Mirror Faced II, 2020

Mirror Faced III, 2020

Red soil, gourd, mirror, beads, paper pulp, wood glue, and hair

Mirror Faced I, 2020

Red soil, gourd, mirror, beads, paper pulp, wood glue, and hair

Mirror Faced II, 2020

Red soil, gourd, mirror, beads, paper pulp, wood glue, and hair

2020

Mirror Faced II, 2020

Red soil, gourd, mirror, beads, paper pulp, wood glue, and hair

Mirror Faced III, 2020

Mirror Faced II, 2020

Mirror Faced I, 2020

Red soil, gourd, mirror, beads, paper pulp, wood glue, and hair

Outstretched, 2019

Paper pulp, wood glue, soil, charcoal, pigment, and feathers

Outstretched sites the classic trope of the reclining nude, whose passivity and availability has dominated the representation of women in Western art for centuries. With her shieldlike amphibian skin, Outstretched resists the association of nakedness with vulnerability, thus defying the indignity of female objectification. The work mimics the suggestive wrapping of fabric around a figure's genitalia, a traditional aesthetic strategy to entice a viewer, but Wangechi Mutu challenges the motif, incorporating it as a part of the woman's armor.

(This text appears on a placard displayed near the pieces.)

Outstretched, 2019

Paper pulp, wood glue, soil, charcoal, pigment, and feathers

Subterranea Stemmed 2021, Subterranea Fury 2021, Subterranea Flourish 2021

Subterranea Flourish, 2021 and

Dream Catcher, 2016

Red soil, paper pulp, treated wood, acrylic paint, and wood glue

Dream Catcher, 2016

Red soil, paper pulp, treated wood, acrylic paint, and wood glue

Dream Catcher, 2016

Red soil, paper pulp, treated wood, acrylic paint, and wood glue

Detail of Subterranea Flourish, 2021

Detail of Subterranea Stemmed, 2021

Detail of Subterranea Stemmed, 2021

Dream Catcher, 2016

Red soil, paper pulp, treated wood, acrylic paint, and wood glue

Seeing Cowries, 2020

Paper pulp, wood glue, emulsion paint, charcoal, ink, wood, shell, and mixed media

Seeing Cowries proposes a joint divinity of nature and woman. The cross-legged figure is both a body and a mound, modeled into a triangular cape of painted pulp and branches. She appears as a fearsome creature and a seer of truth, whose visions carry the promise of protection, prosperity, and fertility--all traits associated with the cowrie shell, one of the oldest, and once the most valuable, currencies across Asia, Africa, and Oceania.

(This text appears on a placard displayed near the pieces.)

Seeing Cowries, 2020

Paper pulp, wood glue, emulsion paint, charcoal, ink, wood, shell, and mixed media

Seeing Cowries, 2020

Paper pulp, wood glue, emulsion paint, charcoal, ink, wood, shell, and mixed media

Seeing Cowries, 2020

Paper pulp, wood glue, emulsion paint, charcoal, ink, wood, shell, and mixed media

Seeing Cowries, 2020

Paper pulp, wood glue, emulsion paint, charcoal, ink, wood, shell, and mixed media

Prayer, 2020 and Sentinel IV, 2020

Ox Pecked 2018

I am Speaking, Can you hear me?, 2020

Paper pulp, wood glue, soil, charcoal, bone, feathers, shells, wood, and metal stands

Outstretched, 2019

Paper pulp, wood glue, soil, charcoal, pigment, and feathers

Outstretched, 2019

Paper pulp, wood glue, soil, charcoal, pigment, and feathers

Shavasana I, 2019 and Shavasana II, 2019

Bronzes

Shavasana II, 2019

Bronze

Shavasana I, 2019

Bronze

Shavasana I, 2019 and Shavasana II, 2019

Bronzes

Mama Ray, 2020

Bronze

Mama Ray, 2020

Bronze

 

Detail of Crocodylus, 2020

Bronze

Crocodylus, 2020

Bronze

Crocodylus channels the ancient myths and lived realities of crocodiles haunting the watery regions and imaginations of East African peoples. In ancient Egypt, the reverence of crocodiles incited the practice of their mummification to appease their deities, including, most importantly, the god Sobek. Crocodiles were equally feared in Kenya and Ethiopia, where the now-extinct Crocodlus thorbarnarsoni terrorized inhabitants three million years ago. Wangchi Mutu resurrects these legends into this hybrid creature, whose human-animal rider invokes a fantastical avenger.

(This text appears on a placard displayed near the piece.)

Shavasana I and Shavasana II

2019

Bronzes

Shavasana II

2019

Bronze

Crocodylus, 2020

Bronze

Detail of Crocodylus, 2020

Bronze

Detail of Crocodylus, 2020

Bronze

Crocodylus, 2020

Bronze

Crocodylus, 2020

Bronze

Shavasana I and Shavasana II 2019

Bronzes

Mama Ray, 2020

Bronze

Mama Ray, 2020

Bronze

Part animal, part human, and part battleship, Mama Ray is an ascending figure that represents women and their divine and resurgent feminine power. Her diamond shape is inspired by the ancient Egyptian goddesses Maat and Isis, the African predecessors of the Christian Virgin Mary, and her textured skin conjures the bodies of amphibians. This work was also influenced by the war shields that were made from hippopotamus hides by the Arsi and Oromo peoples of Ethiopia.

 

Detail of Mama Ray, 2020

Bronze

Detail of Mama Ray, 2020

Bronze

Mama Ray, 2020

Bronze

Mama Ray, 2020

Bronze

Detail of Mama Ray, 2020

Bronze

Crocodylus, 2020

Bronze

Crocodylus, 2020

Bronze

Detail of Mama Ray, 2020

Bronze

Detail of Mama Ray, 2020

Bronze

Mama Ray, 2020

Bronze

Shavasana II, 2019

Shavasana II and Shavasana I, 2019

Detail of Shavasana II, 2019

Bronze

Shavasana I, 2019

Bronze

Shavasana II and Shavasana I, 2019

Shavasana II and Shavasana I, 2019

Bronze

 

Shavasana II and Shavasana I, 2019

Bronze

Crocodylus, 2020

Bronze

Detail of Shavasana I, 2019

Bronze