Acclaimed American artist Julie Mehretu will premiere a new suite of paintings that she has produced for the fifteenth project of Deutsche Guggenheim’s commission program. Mehretu is celebrated for her large scale paintings and drawings that layer abstract forms with familiar architectural imagery. Drawn from a multitude of sources including historical photographs, urban planning grids, architectural drawings, graffiti, and comic books, these semi-abstract works explore the social concerns of power, history, globalism, and the built environment and their impact on the formation of personal and communal identity. For the Deutsche Guggenheim, Mehretu produced a remarkable suite of seven paintings that ruminate on her impressions of Berlin. The commission is scheduled to travel to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York in 2010 and is accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue.