Our Days, Like a Shadow (a non-abiding hauntology)

Julie Mehretu's new abstraction explores transience and liberation through translucent TRANSpaintings, black-ground works, and a live dance collaboration.

Why go

Mehretu's exhibition spans three floors with innovative translucent paintings mounted on sculptural brackets by Nairy Baghramian, creating a phenomenological experience where viewers see through and around the works. The show culminates in live performances by John Jasperse Projects (May 20–23), where dancers activate the space in dialogue with the

What to expect

Large-scale abstract paintings in ink and acrylic on canvas and translucent polyester mesh, arranged across the gallery's three floors. Works include the new Black Paintings cycle (2025–26) on dark grounds with luminous chromatic layers, TRANSpaintings/Upright Brackets collaborations with Baghramian that permit viewing from both sides, and traditio

Things to know

• Mehretu's seventh solo exhibition at Marian Goodman and fourth in New York.
• Features new bodies of work from 2024–26, with a prelude shown at Palazzo Grassi Venice (2024) and MCA Sydney (2024–25).
• TRANSpaintings use translucent monofilament polyester mesh over ghost images from geopolitical reportage, mounted in aluminum sculptural arm
• Black Paintings cycle draws inspiration from Julius Eastman's 1974 composition 'Feminine in 9' and explores mark-making in darkness and anci
• John Jasperse Projects will perform 'Wandering,' a new choreography with seven dancers and live music by Hahn Rowe and Will Johnson, on May
• Mehretu's large-scale public commission 'Uprising of the Sun' will debut on the Obama Presidential Center façade in Chicago in June 2026.

Plan your visit

Gallery hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 10 am–6 pm. Live performances by John Jasperse Projects occur twice daily, May 20–23, 2026. The exhibition spans all three floors; plan time to experience the works from multiple vantage points and to witness how light and shadow shift the paintings' appearance.