The first in a series on contemporary artists who may be of interest to cartoonists and comics makers.
Today I’ll explore the work of the brilliant Wangechi Mutu (b. 1972). She’s a Kenyan-born artist who currently lives and works in New York City. She has been exhibited extensively and has work in major museums and collections around the world.
One Hundred Lavish Months of Bushwhack, 2004
Wangechi Mutu’s collages, sculptures, installations, and performances deal with the themes of femininity and blackness and are firmly rooted in the tradition of Afro-futurism. Hers is a fiercely defiant world, in which the women display their bodies and spirit with provocative daring. Their sinuous limbs and attire recodify the trappings of mainstream beauty ideals. There is also a subtle violence just under the surface, which makes the viewer slightly unnerved even as they are taken in by the grace and fragility of the line.
Her collages and drawings bring to mind fairy tales and a surreal Magical Realism. The figures she constructs have a grotesque beauty that swirl and dance with a wonderful sense of movement. Cultural and societal trauma twists and contorts these bodies and imbues them with the weight of history. Similarly, the color palette is one of juxtapositions: earthy brown and oranges clash with explosions of blood red and acid yellow, struck through with garish gold and silver. These collages are often created on Mylar, which allows the ink to pool to create the luminous blobs.
“I try to stretch my own ideas about appropriate ways to depict women. Criticism, curiosity and voyeurism lead me along, as I look at things I find hard to view – things that are sometimes distasteful or unethical.”
All Rosey, 2003
In recent years, Mutu’s interests have expanded to sculptures and installations, broadening her works ambition and scope. In 2020, she was commissioned by The Met in NYC and created four bronze sculptures for the façade of the building (these are seen in the header image above). The use of traditional African jewelry and adornment mixed with the bold graphic and stylistic garments bring to mind the psychedelic landscapes of Moebius and one could easily see these imposing and stoic figures on guard in one of his crystalline deserts. Some of her other recent large-scale sculpture work uses surface patterns that draw from totemic and ritualistic sculpture of ancient cultures and bring to mind the slick bio-organisms of H.R. Giger and nightmarish visions of Polish illustrator Zdzisław Beksiński.
Crocodylus, 2020
She’s Egungun Again, 2005
One of the most striking lessons cartoonists can take from Mutu’s work is an experimentation with materials. Her collaged elements blend with her watercolor and ink to create a cohesion of form. Additionally, she outfits her women with mind-dazzling costumes and clothing which gives them character and personality. Her use of mark-making allows for a broad range of textures in her work. It’s a master class in costume and character design as well as world-building and attention to detail.
In some ways, Mutu’s works can also be seen through the lens of superhero narratives. Gargantuan female furies, transformed into mystical, other-worldly goddesses and warriors. They operate within a narrative of resilience and could either aid in the fight for truth and justice or exact revenge on their enemies. The power of her work comes from this tension between beauty and brutality. We fell the energy and power of her super beings, though their focus is beyond that simple framework. Mutu invents her own unique universe, in which feminine blackness becomes a superpower and the heroes are all at once familiar and terrifying.
Snake Eater, 2014
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