Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an acrylic painting by the Contemporary Abstract artist Julie Mehretu. It dates from 2003 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 2003, this untitled work by Julie Mehretu is an acrylic and ink composition on canvas now in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. The surface is densely layered, presenting a chaotic network of lines, scribbles, and vivid color fields that dominate a pale ground.
Subject & Meaning
The painting offers no recognizable narrative; instead it suggests a tangled web of forms that evoke natural roots, electrical wiring, or urban grids. Small geometric fragments—rectangles, flags, dots—float amid the turbulence, inviting viewers to contemplate the interplay of order and disorder within contemporary visual experience.
Technique & Style
Mehretu builds the image through multiple applications of acrylic paint and ink, allowing the media to merge and obscure foreground and background. The resulting visual density creates a sense of depth without clear hierarchy, while the bright reds, blues, and yellows punctuate the composition, contrasting with the muted underlayer.
History & Provenance
The canvas was completed in 2003 and subsequently entered the Museum of Modern Art’s holdings, where it remains on display. Its acquisition reflects the institution’s interest in documenting the evolution of abstract painting in the early twenty‑first century.
Artist & collection
Artist
Julie Mehretu is an Ethiopian American contemporary visual artist, known for her multi-layered paintings of abstracted landscapes on a large scale.
