Artist field note

Wangechi Mutu

The body rebuilt from the images that consume it.

The Seated I by Wangechi Mutu — Detail photograph of The Seated I bronze sculpture.
Detail photograph of The Seated I bronze sculpture. · metmuseum.org · See source for rightsSource ↗

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The Seated I

2019

A monumental female figure sits with absolute composure on the Met facade. The architectural niche is no longer neutral territory.

The five in one idea

Mutu cuts apart inherited images of the female and African body, then builds beings that answer to nobody else’s taxonomy.