Privileges Taken for Granted, a Cadavre Exquis, 2020

This edition by Julie Mehretu was created as part of a series published by Schellmann Art for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung in 2020 – a year defined by the COVID-19 pandemic and the global resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement. For her contribution, Mehretu intervened on a New York Times op-ed that reflects on how passports divide people into two groups – the powerful and the powerless – and how the privileged only became aware of this disparity when confronted with pandemic-related travel restrictions. Over the printed article, Mehretu layered gestural marks, abstract forms, and bursts of color, animating the page with her signature visual language. The work’s title is taken directly from the article and appears in the upper quarter of the print, visually emphasized by Mehretu’s sunburst-like highlighting.