Stadia II 2004

Julie Mehretu made Stadia II sometime after she was born in 1970, probably with ink and acrylic on canvas, or something like that. The colours are bright, almost like flags, and the lines zip and zoom like race cars. It feels like she’s trying to capture the energy of a crowd, maybe at a sports event, or a political rally. Artmaking is like this, a process, and Mehretu really lets you see the way she is thinking. I love how the painting isn’t just flat. It's got layers and layers of stuff going on. You can see these thin lines, like maps or blueprints, and then these thick blobs of color on top. The surface is really alive. Look at the yellow streak across the middle, it looks like it was put on with a squeegee! All this physicality gives the painting a feeling of movement. Mehretu is always playing with space and architecture and her work reminds me a bit of early Kandinsky, who was also trying to find a way to paint music. It’s not about one clear meaning, but more about letting your eyes and your mind wander.