Wangechi Mutu is a Kenyan-American artist renowned for her interdisciplinary approach to art, blending sculpture, painting, video, and installation to explore themes of identity, gender, race, and the body. Born in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1972, Mutu moved to the United States in the early 1990s, where she earned her MFA from Yale University. Her work often draws from both African cultural traditions and Western contemporary art practices, reflecting her personal experience as a woman of African descent navigating global identities.
Mutu’s iconic collages, made from cut-out images from magazines and other sources, transform the female body into mythological and fantastical forms. Her work challenges traditional representations of femininity and explores the intersection of the human body with nature, politics, and technology. Major series such as "The Leopard’s Tail" and "Histology of the Different Classes of Uterine Tumors" use the body as a site for decolonization and empowerment, merging organic and mechanical forms to critique historical and contemporary depictions of women of color.
Her art has been exhibited in leading institutions worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Venice Biennale. Mutu’s works are housed in prestigious collections, such as the Tate Modern and the Guggenheim. Through her multidisciplinary practice, Wangechi Mutu has become a prominent voice in contemporary art, celebrated for her bold, imaginative, and socially conscious exploration of cultural and personal narratives.