Wangechi Mutu
Water Woman
2016-2017
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Wangechi Mutu
Water Woman
2016-2017
Physical Qualities
Bronze, 36 × 65 × 70 in. (91.4 × 165.1 × 177.8 cm.)
Credit Line
Purchase with exchange funds from the Pearlstone Family Fund and partial gift of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.; and additional funds from Fanny B. Thalheimer Memorial Fund, Katherine M. Hardiman, Frederick R. Weisman Contemporary Acquisitions Endowment, The Rothschild Foundation, and Dr. Max Stern Trust Fund
Object Number
2017.148
East African folklore warns of the nguva: captivating sea-women who lure unsuspecting mortals into the waters. Wangechi Mutu imagines one such being in her cast bronze sculpture Water Woman. Mutu explores the ways in which the bodies of women—particularly Black women—are portrayed in mythology, art, and popular media. Often erupting with monstrous mutations, the artist’s figures are strong as well as beautiful, a celebration of their wholeness, offering an alternative to myths based on the fear of female power.
Publication References
"Water Woman, 2017" BMA Today, issue 159 (winter/spring 2019): p. 12.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by purchase, 2017; the Artist
Wangechi Mutu: Water Woman
Every Day: Selections from the Collection
Sculpture Gardens Rotations 2021
Wangechi Mutu Sculpture
Sculpture Gardens Rotations 2022
Sculpture Gardens Rotations 2023
Inscribed: Wangechi Mutu AP1/2 2018