Julie Mehretu joins us in conversation with acclaimed interviewer and cultural interlocutor Paul Holdengräber.
This event is NOT at OXY ARTS. It will take place at Choi Auditorium on Occidental College's campus.
Occidental College and OXY ARTS are pleased to announce the launch year of Oxy Live!, a conversation series highlighting a diverse lineup of cultural luminaries at the forefront of their fields. Hosted by acclaimed interviewer and cultural interlocutor Paul Holdengräber.
This conversation will explore Mehretu's creative practice, the significance of her work to our present social and political climate and reflections on the artist's work with collaborators and friends.
Julie Mehretu is a world-renowned painter who lives and works in New York City. Her art is featured in the Smithsonian, LACMA, MOMA, The Broad, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Guggenheim, the Met, the Tate, the Whitney, and many other leading museums. She is Sotheby’s Top-selling African Artist of all Time (2023), and Time magazine named her to its 100 Most Influential People in 2020. Mehretu’s paintings, drawings, and prints depict the cumulative effects of urban sociopolitical changes.
Originally from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, her work has been exhibited extensively and is represented in collections worldwide. She is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship (2005) and the U.S. Department of State Medal of Arts (2015). Mehretu is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and National Academy of Design. Her artwork also will be on display at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in June 2024, as a BMW curated artist for its M Hybrid V8. Mehretu earned her master of fine arts from the Rhode Island School of Design.
Marian Goodman Gallery is Mehretu’s global representative.
Paul Holdengräber is an interviewer and curator. He was the Founding Executive Director of Onassis Los Angeles (OLA). Previously, and for 14 years, he was Founder and Director of The New York Public Library’s LIVE from the NYPL cultural series where he interviewed and hosted over 600 events, holding conversations with everyone from Patti Smith to Zadie Smith, Ricky Jay to Jay-Z, Errol Morris to Jan Morris, Wes Anderson to Helen Mirren, Werner Herzog to Mike Tyson. Before his tenure at the Library, Holdengräber was the Founder and Director of “The Institute for Art & Cultures” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and a Fellow at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles. He has a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Princeton University and has taught at Princeton University, Williams College, Claremont Graduate University among others. In 2003, the French Government named Holdengräber Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, and then promoted him in 2012 to the rank of Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres. In 2010, The President of Austria awarded him the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art.
Oxy Live! events extend an open invitation to the public at no cost, fostering a space for diverse communities to join in the conversation and explore ideas together. A full schedule and reservation information is available at oxy.edu/oxylive.
The conversation will be available on the OXY ARTS YouTube channel following the event.
Location: Occidental College, Choi Auditorium
Time: 7 p.m.
