Wangechi Mutu - new Venice show The SeasSpirit and Biennale presence
Published on 08/28/2026 at 17:26 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Wangechi Mutu marks summer 2026 with a concentrated presence in Venice. As Victoria Miro states, her solo exhibition The SeasSpirit runs at the gallery's Venice space from July 18 to August 29, 2026, alongside her inclusion in the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.
Collage-paintings in The SeasSpirit
The SeasSpirit at Victoria Miro Venice gathers a new series of collage-paintings in which Mutu conjures a cast of feminine water spirits, merging cut-and-paste imagery with painted surfaces and sculptural relief elements. The show occupies the gallery's Venice space and is scheduled from July 18 to August 29, 2026, framing the height of the lagoon city's summer season.
Victoria Miro describes the works as layered compositions that weave marine iconography, mythic figures and fragments of bodies into hybrid beings, continuing Mutu's long-standing interest in transformation, ecology and gendered narratives. An Artefuse review underlines how these collages channel eco-feminism and ancestral spirits, positioning water as both a site of threat and renewal within African diasporic histories.
Presence at the 61st Venice Biennale
Mutu's Venice moment extends beyond the gallery context into the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, titled In Minor Keys and curated by Koyo Kouoh. According to La Biennale's official artist page, she presents the installation The End, Where All began, EdEN, which reimagines the Garden of Eden through a cosmological lens grounded in the origin stories of her ancestral community.
The installation fills the Arsenale space with tactile sculptures made from Kenyan earth, sticks, cow horns, books, quartz crystals and other natural materials, forming an environment that visitors move through rather than simply observe. Universes in Universe notes that the work is part of the larger Biennale run from May 9 to November 22, 2026, where Mutu appears among artists foregrounded for non-hegemonic narratives and material practices.
Exhibitions, biennials and background on Wangechi Mutu
For further reporting on Wangechi Mutu's exhibitions, biennial projects and market developments, AD HOC NEWS aggregates current articles and background pieces in its internal search.
The work core across media
Mutu works across collage, sculpture, installation, film and performance, but collage remains a central method through which she builds hybrid figures that oscillate between beauty and disquiet. Early large-scale paper works paved the way for her recent collage-paintings, where photographic fragments, pigment and textured materials fuse into nearly sculptural images.
Her installations, including The End, Where All began, EdEN at the Venice Biennale, extend this logic into space, surrounding viewers with earth-based materials, bodily references and textual remnants. The work situates human histories within an environment of soil, horns and crystals, insisting on a relation between myth, land and contemporary geopolitics.
Where the artist stands now
Against this backdrop, Wangechi Mutu stands in a dense 2026 program with The SeasSpirit at Victoria Miro Venice through August 29, 2026 and her installation The End, Where All began, EdEN on view in In Minor Keys at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia until November 22, 2026.
Key facts on Wangechi Mutu
- Artist: Wangechi Mutu
- Medium / Genre: Collage, sculpture and installation with an eco-feminist, diasporic focus
- Born: 1972, Nairobi, Kenya
- Place(s) of practice: Studio practice between Nairobi and New York, with longstanding ties to Brooklyn-based production.
- Active since: Active since the mid-1990s, with survey exhibition Wangechi Mutu: A Fantastic Journey marking a key institutional milestone.
- Key work groups: Wangechi Mutu: A Fantastic Journey, The End, Where All began, EdEN, The SeasSpirit, early collage series exploring hybrid female figures.
- Current/last exhibition: The SeasSpirit, Victoria Miro Venice, July 18–August 29, 2026.
- Major collections: Works held in major public collections including the Brooklyn Museum and other international institutions documented across recent surveys.
- Awards: Recognized in international rankings and biennial selections, including invitation to the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia in 2026.
- Next date: In Minor Keys, 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, May 9–November 22, 2026, Venice.
Frequently asked questions about Wangechi Mutu
Where is Wangechi Mutu currently on view in Venice?
Mutu's works are on view in her solo exhibition The SeasSpirit at Victoria Miro Venice from July 18 to August 29, 2026, and in the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, where she presents The End, Where All began, EdEN in the Arsenale.
What is Wangechi Mutu showing at the 61st Venice Biennale?
At the Biennale, Mutu presents the installation The End, Where All began, EdEN, a cosmological environment that reimagines the Garden of Eden through African diasporic and eco-feminist perspectives, populated with sculptures made from Kenyan earth, horns, books and crystals.
How does The SeasSpirit relate to Mutu's broader practice?
The SeasSpirit extends Mutu's collage-based exploration of hybrid female figures into a water-focused register, channeling eco-feminist themes and ancestral imagery while maintaining her signature layering of photographic fragments, paint and relief materials in large-scale works.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
