This archive report was first published on 12 September 2019.
On September 12, 2019, Kenyan contemporary visual artist Wangechi Mutu made history with the unveiling of her four majestic sculptures at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) in New York City.
Located at the entrance of the historical building, Mutu's commissioned project, The NewOnes, will free Us, features four bronze sculptures, titled The Seated I, II, III, and IV (2019), which will be exhibited until January 12, 2020.
According to The Met, Mutu's work engages in a critique of gender and racial politics that is both pointed and poetic. The artist has reimagined a motif common to the history of both Western and African art: the caryatid, a sculpted figure, almost always female, meant to serve as a means of either structural or metaphorical support.
Ms. Mutu, known primarily for her painting, sculpture, film, and performance work, said in a statement: "The poised, stately figures I have created...derive inspiration from my interest in ancient and modern practices that reflect on the relationship between women and power across various traditions... They have come to look and bear witness, and to reflect back to us what we are."
This important installation is part of a new series of contemporary commissions at The Met, where the museum invites artists to create new works of art inspired by the collection, establishing a dialogue between the artist's work, the collection, the space, and audiences.
