Wangechi Mutu

 ( 1972 Births ) 

Mutu's work, in part, centers on the violence and misrepresentation experienced by Black women in contemporary society. A recurring theme of Mutu's work is her various depictions of femininity. Mutu uses the feminine subject in her art, even when the figures are more or less unrecognizable, whether by using the form itself or the texture and patterns the figure is made from. Sometimes she uses cliche images of archetypal women—mothers, virgins, goddesses—as source material, reconfiguring them to create potent, charged images that reflect her own emotional agency, as well as the agency, multitudes, and contradictions of womanhood in general. Her use of otherworldly depictions for women, many times shown in a seemingly sexual or sensual pose, brings about discussion of the objectification of women. Specifically, Mutu addresses the hyper-objectification of black female bodies and has used an otherworldly nature to reiterate the fictitious nature of society's depictions of black women.

Additionally, Mutu's work consistently involves intentional re-imaginations of the African experience. In Misguided Little Unforgivable Hierarchies, she examines social hierarchy and power relationships through the medium of collage, for "rankings of peoples have historically been constructed around fabricated racial and ethnic categories". In Family Tree, as in many of her works, Mutu deliberately constructs both a past and a future within the single figure through displaying diagrams from antique medical journals as well as mechanical images. Mutu uses Afrofuturism to explore themes of alienation, which relates to feminism, colonialism, materiality, and disability. In this way, Afrofuturism acts as a lens for these subjects. The use of Afrofuturistic aesthetics also allows for creative freedom in rendering bodies and representations of identities and experiences, as can be seen with the presence of cyborgs and alien-like figures in her works.

The presence of black women in a futuristic setting also acts as a pushback to ideas of evolutionism and cultural and social hierarchies. By contextualizing these women in such extreme modern spaces, Mutu makes a statement—that women of color are included in the idea of the idealistic "evolved" human. This rejects colonialist ideas about people of color being "less evolved", or modernist ideas about people of color being stuck in a less developed state.

In the goal of creating distinct representations of struggles and tensions for female and African identities, the principles and aesthetics of Afrofuturism work well with Mutu's use of collage and mixed media art. These elements form a more holistic approach to examining fractured identities. Mutu gave a speech on TED in 2023.[2]

A handful of Mutu's works highlight the female figure and feminine features. Using references to a black woman's body, Mutu uses the silhouette or actual photographic imagery of a woman to create the characters in her works. A series of artworks that reflect the use of the female silhouette and elements of photographic images of black females is “The Ark Collection” from 2006. One of the artworks in this collection, titled “Highland Woman, shows a photographic image of a female body meshed with various college elements, helping create a scene as well as create the rest of the silhouette of a female figure, highlighting the photographic elements of a woman's nude breasts. The rest of these works have been discussed as using the female form to create “figurations of black women's corporeality in visual culture”. She also places a lot of emphasis on body language and the way the woman is situated within the work.

Another feminine aspect that Mutu draws from is the idea of feminine power. She draws these ideas in her “The Seated series.” In an interview, Mutu claimed this artwork is inspired by “caryatids throughout history,” in which she uses a reference from women of color. Mutu shares that “in Greek architecture, you see these women in their beautiful robes, and then in African sculpture across the continent, you see these women wither kneeling or sitting, sometimes holding a child, as well as holding up the seat of the king.” Most African women in these historical sculptures show women of color in these contexts implemented on the bottom on the pedestal. She wanted to showcase the African American women as being on top of a pedestal to express a reclaim of black female power. She considers the black female experience in her pieces through her inspiration from female forms that showcase power in art history.

Constructed of ink, mica flakes, pressure-sensitive synthetic polymer sheeting, painted paper, and synthetic polymer paint on paper, Yo Mama spans 59 1/8 " x 85" and is part of the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

In 2014 Mutu founded the charitable organization Africa's Out! located in Brooklyn New York. The organization is devoted to supporting artists whose work subverts traditional narratives around Africa and its diaspora.

In 2016, her film The End of Carrying All was exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas. The film depicts Mutu crossing a landscape with a basket filling up with consumer goods as the landscape changes, ending with a volcanic eruption. In 2016, she also participated in several group exhibits, including "Blackness in Abstraction," at the Pace Gallery in New York, "Black Pulp!" at the International Print Center in New York, and "Africans in America" at the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg.

In 2017, her black bronze sculpture Water Woman, of which depicted a nguva, was placed at the foot of the amphitheater at the Contemporary Austins fourteen-acre sculpture park at Laguna Gloria. Based on the East African folklore of the half woman and half sea creature is a representation of histories narrative of women as cunning temptresses. The exhibition ran from September 23, 2017, to January 14, 2018, when it became a part of the museum's permanent collection.

In September 2019, four female bronze sculptures by Mutu, "Seated I, II, III, and IV", were placed to occupy the empty niches always intended to house free-standing sculpture in the facade of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the first installation and exhibition ("The New Ones Will Free Us" September 9 – Fall 2020) of what will be an annual commission meant to feature work by contemporary artists. Mutu has described the bronze statues as having been inspired by . "The Facade Commission", The Met. Initially, the sculptures were planned to be displayed until January 12, 2020, but their exhibition was extended to June 8, 2020, and further extended to Fall 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "Seated I" and "Seated III" were subsequently acquired for The Met's permanent collection. A discussion with her about the exhibit and contemporary times was recorded on July 28, 2020 for a series entitled Women and the Critical Eye.

In January 2020, Mutu was part of Artpace exhibit entitled Visibilities: Intrepid Women of Artpace. Curated by Erin K. Murphy, Visibilities not only kicks off Artpace's 25th anniversary celebration, but also highlights past artists from their International Artist-in-Residency program, such as Mutu who was a resident there in Fall of 2004. Mutu's 12-panel series Histology of the Different Classes of Uterine Tumors, made up of collaged digital prints, was exhibited in the Hudson Showroom.

In 2023 the New Museum featured a retrospective of Mutu's work. The solo exhibition entitled Mutu: Intertwined, features roughly 115 pieces ranging from early in her career to brand new pieces showcasing various mediums and techniques including sculpture, video, collage, and more. Wangechi Mutu's work was included in the Spirit in the Land exhibition and accompanying publication at the Nasher Museum of Art, in 2023, which later traveled to the Pérez Art Museum Miami in 2024.