Wangechi Mutu: Artistic Works and Style, Exhibitions and Awards

Wangechi Mutu
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Wangechi Mutu
Introduction
Born on 22nd June 1972, in Nairobi, Kenya, Wangechi Mutu has grown to become of the most celebrated artist from Africa (The Africa Channel, 2016). She is currently based in Brooklyn, New York where she lives and works. Mutu’s works continue to receive global acclaim and is actually considered as one of the best contemporary African artists of her generation. After receiving her basic education in Kenya at Loreto Convent Msongari, she later moved to Wales in 1991 for her college education at the United World College of the Atlantic. Since she had an interest in Anthropology and Fine Arts, Mutu later moved to the US in the in the mid 1990’s and enrolled at the Parsons School of Art and Design and the New School for Social Research (The Africa Channel, 2016). The two institutions are based in New York and Mutu found a perfect opportunity to simultaneously study Fine Arts and Anthropology. In 1996, Mutu earned a BFA in the Advancement of Art and Science from Cooper Union. This formed the foundation of her future career in art. Her interest in both art and sculpture influenced her decision to enroll at Yale University for a Masters degree in sculpture. She completed her Master’s program in 2000 and graduated the same year with a Masters degree in sculpture (The Africa Channel, 2016). After completing her Master’s degree, Mutu had equipped herself had the necessary knowledge and skills to launch her illustrious career in art. This paper will highlight Wangechi Mutu’s artistic works, style as well as influences.
Artistic Works and Style
Mutu’s works range from videos, performances installations, collages, paintings, works on paper and sculptures (The Africa Channel, 2016). Her ability to use a variety of mediums to communicate her message is a clear indication of her versatility and diversity when it comes to art. Mutu is fond of creating provocative juxtapositions of a woman’s body using assemblage and collage strategies. Most of her works explore three major themes that include sexual identity, colonialism, race and gender. She has the ability to create different formations of the body using painted elements, hand drawn elements, images from science fiction as well as fragments from automotive schematics, African art books, pornography magazines, fashion magazines as well as travel magazines (The Africa Channel, 2016). Mutu’s works are characterized by feelings of worldliness and familiarity that she creates by mixing abstract patterns and photo based collage elements. Her ability to bring out different feelings in a single piece of art is what makes her works to be very attractive and interesting.
Mutu’s works are very investigative, thought provoking, and always leaves her audience with a mixture of feelings (Miro, 2016). The pieces of art have the ability to unlock perception dialogue in both political and personal contexts. She likes to interrogate social issues in her works as she tries to find out how personal and political realism define the social contract. In addition that, Mutu tries to find out how the human race...