With much of her art focused on African diaspora and the female form, Kenyan-born, Brooklyn-based artist Wangechi Mutu transformed the Deutsche Guggenheim into a cocoon-like setting to aptly display the new works in her upcoming solo show, “My Dirty Little Heaven.”

Named “Artist of the Year 2010” by the Deutsche Bank Global Art Advisory Council, Mutu’s works are often as complex as the themes that surround them.

Mutu’s background as a trained sculptor is apparent—her bold collages and poignant site-specific installations are layered with found photos blended together to create body parts, flowers, cars, glitter, fur, and paint. Using duct tape and gray felt blankets she created a backdrop for the exhibit that feels both protective and dilapidated, referencing the pieced-together housing found in shanty towns, places Mutu feels are extremely impoverished yet bursting with creativity. She relays that her exhibition is an homage to these towns, where the people are tenacious and are “actually quite ingenious because they’re still alive despite the conditions they live in.”

“My Dirty Little Heaven” runs through to June 13th 2010.

Read the original blog post here con Cool Hunting