Artist Julie Mehretu Talks Exhibit at Marian Goodman, Obama Presidential Center Installation
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Artist Julie Mehretu discusses her new exhibition, 'Our Days Like a Shadow, A Non-Abiding Hauntology,' at the Marion Goodman Gallery, opening April 14, 2026. The show, spanning three floors, features her latest works including the new 'Black Paintings' series and translucent 'trans paintings' suspended by Iranian-born German sculptor Nairi Bagramian’s 'Structural Embraces.' Mehretu reflects on how her art grapples with the accelerated, disorienting pace of contemporary life—marked by political upheaval, global crises, and the collapse of linear time—while drawing from spiritual and philosophical concepts like non-abidance and the impermanence of shadows. She emphasizes the role of light, perception, and viewer movement in shaping the experience of her work, particularly through interference pigments that shift color and visibility depending on perspective. The exhibition also integrates choreographed dance performances, developed in collaboration with choreographer John Jaspers, to animate the spatial and temporal dynamics of the gallery. Mehretu honors the late gallery owner Marion Goodman, whose deep respect for artistic process and patience profoundly influenced her practice. The conversation reveals a deeply introspective, time-based creative process where completion is felt intuitively, not calculated.
Art should reflect the impermanence and complexity of modern existence—where past, present, and future blur, and perception is constantly shifting.
Use of interference pigments on black canvases creates dynamic, light-responsive works that change with viewer position, challenging fixed interpretations.
The installation choreographs movement: paintings are suspended to pivot and interact with space, becoming 'agents' rather than passive objects.
Collaboration with choreographers and dancers transforms the gallery into a living, performative space where movement and sound animate the art.
Completion of a work comes not from external deadlines but from an internal, intuitive sense of wholeness and resolution.
Introduction to Julie Mehretu and Her New Exhibition
Host Alison Stewart introduces Julie Mehretu, MacArthur Genius recipient, and previews her new exhibition 'Our Days Like a Shadow, A Non-Abiding Hauntology' at the Marion Goodman Gallery, highlighting its multi-floor scope and thematic depth.
Themes of Time, Perception, and Hauntology
“We're in this moment where things are passing so quickly, but at the same time, it's really hard to make sense of it. And we're constantly feeling the past as well as the cycling of the past...”
The Role of Light, Shadow, and Materiality
“When you look at a painting from one perspective, you see an orange... from another, it's a green or gold. And that impermanence... that inability to deal with fixity...”
Structural Embraces and the Agency of the Painting
“These aren't just the extension. They're not frames... they feel like animatronic beings or agents in the space.”
Choreography and Performance in the Gallery
Mehretu reveals her collaboration with choreographer John Jaspers to develop dance performances that will animate the gallery space, integrating movement, sound, and spatial choreography across the three floors.
“When you look at a painting from one perspective, you see an orange... from another, it's a green or gold. And that impermanence... that inability to deal with fixity...”
“We're in this moment where things are passing so quickly, but at the same time, it's really hard to make sense of it. And we're constantly feeling the past as well as the cycling of the past...”
“We're constantly being haunted by these, by the past that's not really the past and not already the future.”
Host
Guest
Julie Mehretu
person
Marion Goodman Gallery
organization
Marion Goodman
person
Nairi Bagramian
person
Interference Pigments
other
John Jaspers
person
Whitney Museum
organization
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
organization
MacArthur Genius
other
King David's Prayer
other
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