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An Alien Eye and Other Killah Anthems

May 12, 2006- June 17, 2006

Wangechi Mutu

Sikkema, Jenkins & Co

530 W 22nd St


Sikkema Jenkins & Co. is pleased to announce an exhibition of new work by Wangechi Mutu, An Alien Eye: and Other Killah Anthems, on view from May 13 – June 17, 2006.

Mutu's New York solo exhibition debut at Sikkema Jenkins & Co. will mark a return to the themes of consumption and excess, transformation and desire that are often present in her work. Her warriors and minxes embody the violence that comes from the feverish pursuit of affluence and power, inviting us to watch their battles and triumphs in elaborate other worlds. Lounging and cavorting in these mythical spaces, Mutu's figures reflect a trauma induced by the universal obsession with external appearance. She is best known for her collages on Mylar – works inhabited by figures (usually female) or bulbous spore-like tumors that are a batter of ink, paint, glitter, animal fur and photo derived body parts gleaned from ethnographic, pornography and motorcycle magazines.

In her newest compositions, the artist plays with scale and metamorphosis; a prosthetic hand may be affixed onto an arm by a chrome bike part, or transform into a cluster of diamond encrusted tree branches. Mutu's sumptuous monstrosities parody Western ideals of representation, and the manner in which they grate against the daily realities of the majority of worlds' population. The pursuit of luxury and the machinery that generates a dominant ruling class are dissected, accessorized and highlighted onto Mutu's mythical figures.

A new series, "The Ark", uses ethnographic postcards of women from the Horn of Africa as a backdrop for intense, small-scale collages that explore the desire to consume images of brown skinned female bodies. Other collages employ the iconography of status – such as the totem pole and crown – to play on the idea of social, political, and spiritual hierarchies. Mutu will also exhibit new sculptural works, including her "thrones" – chairs which have seemingly sprouted long, unsteady, spider-like legs, becoming anthropomorphic and only tenuously majestic.

A native of Nairobi, Kenya, Wangechi Mutu received her MFA degree from Yale University in 2000 and her BFA at Cooper Union College, New York. She will participate in the upcoming SITE Santa Fe Biennial, curated by Klaus Ottmann, in July 2006. She has had solo exhibitions at institutions including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Miami Art Museum; and ArtPace, San Antonio. Mutu's work is in public collections including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Whitney Museum of American Art; The Studio Museum in Harlem; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. She lives and works in New York.

Art Reviews of An Alien Eye and Other Killah Anthems

New York Times June 9, 2006		Roberta Smith		"The multitalented artist Wangechi Mutu has a few too many options under consideration, with mixed results. Her large collage-ink paintings on Mylar, depicting bejeweled and befeathered African beauties with gorgeously mottled complexions and strange faces cavorting among tall, serpentine grasses, have become technically overwrought...."
Bloomberg.com May 31, 2006		Carly Berwick		"Women worldwide can shift quickly between fearsome and gorgeous, but rarely have they looked so much of both as in Wangechi Mutu's extraordinary mixed-media collages. Mutu constructs lithe bodies in torqued, Martha Graham-like poses -- half regal, half trampy -- out of clippings from fashion and porn magazines. Mottled fuchsia-and-gray painted backgrounds are like richly hand-dyed fabric. ..."
TimeOut New York May 25, 2006		Barbara Pollack		"...The Kenya-born, Yale-educated artist’s intricate collages combine photos of limbs clipped from magazines with luscious watercolor spills, a cut-and-paste technique that some interpret as a metaphor for brutality. Here it feels both liberating and disturbing, like the best Surrealist art...."

Books and DVDs related to artists in this show

Location   Gallery Sikkema, Jenkins & Co Address 530 W 22nd St New York (Chelsea) NY, 10011 United States Phone 212-929-2262 Fax 212-929-2340 Hours Tue-Sat 10-6 Nearby: All 2 galleries at 530 W 22nd St

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