Our newest inductee to the League of Extraordinary Lesbians is Ethiopian-born artist, Julie Mehretu.

Best known for her large-scale abstract paintings, Mehretu’s Grey Area, itself composed of 6 large-scale paintings, was a featured exhibit at the Guggenheim in 2009. In 2010, she was commissioned by Goldman Sachs for a multi-million dollar, 80 foot mural for their Goldman Sachs Tower in downtown New York (which you can see from the street if you are in the area).

Today, her work can be found in various public and private collections around the United States and Europe. She is often named as one of the most critically acclaimed artists of our time, both nationally and internationally.

Mehretu shares her studio and life with her partner (and fellow artist), Jessica Rankin. The pair welcomed a new baby in 2011, joining their son, Haile.

Julie, you might not be a super lesbian but you are definitely something like it… your ability to deconstruct our traditional view of structure and architecture and liberate us from its constraint is simply amazing.

To see more of her work, please visit her artist’s page at the artnet and read about her love story with Jessica on Out.com here.

Do you know any SLSLs in your neck of the woods? Email me at kristi at the kword.com or tweet me@kristiweb.