Wangechi Mutu (born 1972 in Nairobi, Kenya) is an artist and sculptor who lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, associated with the
Afrofuturist movement. Wangechi Mutu's work deals with the very idea of human representation; how we perceive and reproduce images of what we think we are, how we view others and create images of what we think of them. In her ongoing conversations with figuration, what Mutu's work looks at are value systems that either obscure or elevate our image and reflections. In her collage-paintings, sculptures, films and performance rituals, Mutu uses ink, soil, ash, bronze, driftwood, horn, pigments, wine, hair; ultimately keeping the figure as the focus, always seeking to find out more about who we are, what we mean to each other and why we recreate ourselves in Art. Mutu has participated in several major solo exhibitions in institutions worldwide, including
Wangechi Mutu, The NewOnes, will free Us at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and
Wangechi Mutu: I Am Speaking, Are You Listening? at the Legion of Honor, San Francisco.
