“I think of my abstract mark-making as a type of sign lexicon, signifier, or language for characters that hold identity and have social agency,” said Julie Mehrutu in 2002. Her lived experiences inform her work even further. Born in Addis-Abbas, Ethiopia, in 1970, Mehrutu and her family were forced to move to America just seven years later amid political turmoil. That sense of displacement has hovered over her life. In fact, movement is a part of Mehrutu’s exhibition at Marian Goodman, her fourth solo presentation in New York. Alongside new works, the show features Wandering, a performance choreographed by John Jasperse. The paintings capture the transitory nature of life, and the dancers are witnesses to the moment. —Maggie Turner