New Work: Wangechi Mutu

I went to see Mutu tonight at the SFMoma as she talked about slides and videos of her work with the curator of her new installation there and then spoke with the audience. It was rather intense: she is really a true artist/intellectual in the sense that her art coexists with her ideas and vice versa. It is a symbiotic relationship, one mode would suffer without the other and possibly die. She may not see a difference, as the art may be expressions of her ideas. True enough, but more powerful with her explanations. She is very articulate.

The image above is interesting and powerful, not in this show but a piece she did on an old anatomy book, a series.

This photo is closer to her current installation at the SFMoma:

She gave me some ideas for a piece I have been working on. What struck me is how she is less of a "visual artist" than an intellectual, and I don't mean that as a slight but as a promotion, in the sense that intellectuals can be superior to artists. Or maybe it doesn't matter.