Wangechi Mutu; This You Call Civilization?

Moos, David; Jennifer Gonzalez; Odili Donald Odita; Wangechi Mutu

ISBN 10: 1894243641 / ISBN 13: 9781894243643

Published by Gallery; D. A. P. (Distribution), 2010

About this Item

The alluring and intricate collages of Kenyan-born, New York-based artist Wangechi Mutu (born 1972) draw the viewer into narratives of beauty, consumerism, colonialism, race, identity and gender politics. Oriented around imagery of the human body, Mutu's work aims at a visual deconstruction of traditional figuration, reconciling the experience of her Kenyan upbringing with present-day American realities. Published to accompany Mutu's first major survey at the Art Gallery of Ontario, This You Call Civilization? demonstrates the breadth of the artist's oeuvre to date, encompassing numerous works on paper produced since 2001, plus two large-scale installations and two video works. It also includes excerpts from favorite key source books selected by Mutu from her personal library, each of them formative in her quest to raise public awareness about racial and political issues through her art.

Seller Inventory # 87890

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Wangechi Mutu; This You Call Civilization?
• Publisher: Gallery; D. A. P. (Distribution)
• Publication Date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1894243641
• ISBN 13: 9781894243643
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Black women: ideas of beauty, ideas of strength, unapologetic.

A thumb pushes on teeth. Jewelled eyes, misplaced lips, and masks of black glitter expose the complexity and falsity of the modern representational world.

Born in Nairobi, living in New York, Wangechi Mutu is known for her painting, sculpture, film, and performance work in which she does anything but shy away from critiquing the modern gaze. Rather, she focuses squarely on calling a spade a spade: the Orientalist way the West looks at the African-American woman, the exaltation of consumerism, and the role of technology (and its intersection with humanity) in the modern age.

Mutu is neither neutral nor exploratory; at times, she offers the visual equivalent of an indictment. Mutu's protagonists, tribal and technological, wonderfully proud yet ceaselessly oppressed, both blossom and collapse. Driven by contradiction, they draw us in.

Published in 2010 to accompany Mutu's first major exhibition in North America, This You Call Civilization? features reproductions of her major works on paper, large-scale installations, and stills from videos as well as essays by David Moos, Jennifer Gonzales, Michelle Jacques, Odili Donald Odita, Raphael Rubinstein, Carol Thompson, and Rinaldo Walcott. Interleaved between the essays are excerpts from books, selected by Mutu, about brutal colonial repression, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Rwandan genocide.

About the Authors

David Moos is an independent art adviser, curator, and writer based in Toronto. He was the Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Art Gallery of Ontario until 2011.

Wangechi Mutu is a contemporary artist who produces painting, sculpture, film, and performance work. Born in Kenya, she lives and works in New York City. Her work has been exhibited at galleries across the world, including the Tate Modern in London, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.

Wangechi Mutu is a contemporary artist who produces painting, sculpture, film, and performance work. Born in Kenya, she lives and works in New York City. Her work has been exhibited at galleries across the world, including the Tate Modern in London, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.