Zerihun retrospective to open

Lela Art Gallery will present a retrospective of the work of Zerihun Yetmegeta in a new exhibition opening Saturday, April 20. “Yekelebet Menged” (Ring Road) will run through May 12th at LeLa Contemporary art Gallery in Addis Ababa. Zerihun is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential artists in contemporary Ethiopian art, in a career that spans almost five decades.
“Zerihun explores for the past 50 years the visualization of space by creating an illusion of depth and engages the viewer in the game of seeking recognizable imagery and inventing his own visual chronicle,” an associate curator, Leo Lefort said.
The exhibition will feature black and white paintings, prints, drawings which according to the curator “allude to the textural quality of sculpture -equating Paul Klee or Pierre Soulages- suggesting a third dimension where there is only the flat surface of the canvas.”
As Leo noted, “Like a distant mirage, the viewer is drawn into the works of Zerihun, wanting to explore the multiple layers of information: referring to symbols, gods and Saints, motifs inherited from magic scrolls, Akan akua’ba figure from Ghana or King Ezana.”
The exhibition will explore dominant themes throughout Zerihun’s career, including mythology and fiction, anthropology and truth, illusion, duality, myth, and fairy tale. “The irradiation of color and the absence of a precise narrative,” will be the main feature of the show, according to the curator.
For more, go to LeLa Art Gallery website.

A Review of Daniel Taye’s exhibit

Daniel Taye’s Oil Baron, an exhibit of 25 paintings is on view at the Lela Art Gallery from September 15 through September 30, 2012.Daniel who is best known for his portraits and landscapes is admired by art lovers and fellow artists. The artist who a few years ago reportedly suffered bouts of depression, alcoholism and an inability to paint has been fighting against all his hurdles and working up right to the end. With the help of his girlfriend (whose beautiful portrait he has done for this year’s Art of Ethiopia) who is encouraging him to keep painting, Daniel is getting back his momentum and producing high technical standards like those he did before.

Daniel Taye’s oil baron

An exhibition of paintings by Ethiopian artist Daniel Taye opens to the public this weekend at LeLa Art Gallery. Oil Baron is a collection of new landscape and figure paintings by the Addis-born artist. Graduated with distinction from the painting department of the Addis Ababa Fine Arts School in the mid 80’s, Daniel is known for his evocative landscape and figurative work. He was once named by CNN as the “Van Gogh of Africa…”.
Born on 5th January 1968, Daniel grew up closely involved with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and eventually became deacon. From 1990 until 1993, he worked for the Ministry of Mining on the Gold mine Documentation Project. He has seen his work exhibited in Ethiopia as well as several major cities in the USA, Netherlands.
Lilly Sahle, Director of the art gallery says that Daniel’s mind and body work at a very rapid pace. “Intense emotions dwell in his eyes, in his paintings, in his sketches & in this very show featuring mostly recent works, but also allowing the audience to revisit some key pieces from the past ten years,” she says.
The exhibit will open Saturday September 15, from 3pm onward at the LeLa Art Gallery located in Armed Forces Hospital area.
Location: From ring road direction Jimma, take the first right after the Armed Forces Hospital (old Airport) on China Embassy/ Ghana Embassy/ Swedish Clinic road – go down, pass Ghana Embassy approx. 200 mtrs make a right and follow the LeLa sign

Major Tibebe Terffa exhibition to open in Addis

A major new exhibition showcasing one of Ethiopia’s most exciting contemporary artists is to open at Lela Art Gallery, Addis Ababa on Saturday May 5th. Curated by Leo Lefort and supported by Castel Beer, the exhibition includes a collection of works by the prominent professional studio artist living and working in Addis Ababa.
Over the years, Tibebe has exhibited at various galleries and institutes in Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa and Harar. His work has also been exhibited internationally in Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and the U.S.A. In Canada, he gained popularity during many residency programs he participated in at St Norbert’s Art Center in Winnipeg, Manitoba.