Tesfaye Geleta Urgessa (born 1983) is an Ethiopian painter. He is from Addis Ababa and is based in Germany.[1][2][3]
Career
Tesfaye Urgessa studied under Mezgebu Tessema, Tadesse Mesfin and Bisrat Shibabaw [1] in Ethiopia. He graduated from the Ale School of Fine Arts and Design, Addis Ababa in 2006, and the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart in 2014.[2]
Urgessa was taught by professors who had studied art in Russia in the 1970s and 1980s, when the dominant art movement was socialist realism.[3] Their focus was on the study of anatomy, which influenced Urgessa’s style.[3]
At this time, through internet research, Urgessa's practice was inspired by prominent artists in Europe including Picasso, Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon.[3]
Themes
Tesfaye Urgessa’s images have themes of racism, class, policy brutality, injustice in politics and power.[3] He combines traditional figuration with Ethiopian iconography, Cubism, and 1980s German Neo-expressionism.[4]
Exhibitions
Urgessa exhibited in "Oltre/Beyond" at The Uffizi Gallerie in Florence in 2018,[5] and again in 2021.[6] The Uffizi also hosts his work in its permanent collection, and "Von Denen Die Auszogen" at State Galerie Villa Streccius, in Landau Germany in 2019.[4]
Exhibitions
- 2015 Body and Soul Sympra GmbH, Stuttgart.[7]
- 2015 Free Fall Galerie Evelyn Drewes, Hamburg.[8]
- 2015 Untitled Galerie K, Köln, Germany.
- 2016 Ethiopia Today - Begegnung mit Äthiopien Kunstation Kleinassen, Hofbieber-Kleinassen.[9]
- 2016 Fremdkörper Schacher – Raum für Kunst, Stuttgart.
- 2017 Auszeit Galerieverein Wendlingen, Wendlingen.[10]
- 2017 Free Fall Galerie Evelyn Drewes, Hamburg.[11]
- 2018 No Country for Young Men Galerieverein Leonberg, Leonberg.[12]
- 2018 Oltre/Beyond, Uffizi Gallery, Florence.[13]
- 2019 Atemzug Galerie Tobias Schrade, Ulm.[14]
- 2019 Ich Halte Dich Festhalten Schacher – Raum für Kunst, Stuttgart.
- 2019 No Country for Young Men Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.[15]
- 2019 Von Denen Die Auszogen State Galerie Villa, Streccius, Landau.[16]
Awards
- 2014 Akademiepreis der Kunstakademie Stuttgart[17]
- 2010 Camillo-Michele-Gloria-Preis, GasVersorgung Süddeutschland, Stuttgart.
References
- 1 2 "When He is Not in His Painting Studio, Tadesse Mesfin is Training the Next Generation of Ethiopian Artists". 24 May 2020. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
- 1 2 "Tesfaye Urgessa - Overview". NEWCHILD. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Saatchi Yates | Tesfaye Urgessa". saatchiyates.com. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
- 1 2 "The Bodies That Matter - The Figuration of Tesfaye Urgesse | Widewalls". www.widewalls.ch. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
- ↑ Redazione. "Firenze. A Palazzo Pitti le opere di Tesfaye Urgessa". artemagazine.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-07-11.
- ↑ Julia Buckley. "One of Italy's most famous sites just reopened with a striking change". CNN. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
- ↑ "2. Führung mit dem Kurator durch "25 - 25 - 25"". Sympra (in German). Retrieved 2021-07-31.
- ↑ "Evelyn Drewes | Galerie: Tesfaye Urgessa". www.evelyndrewes.de. Retrieved 2021-07-31.
- ↑ "Ethiopia Today - Kunststation Kleinsassen". www.kleinsassen.de. Retrieved 2021-07-31.
- ↑ "Galerieverein Wendlingen - Tesfaye Urgessa: "Auszeit"". www.galerie-wendlingen.de (in German). Retrieved 2021-07-31.
- ↑ "Tesfaye Urgessa "free fall"". kunstaspekte.de (in German). Retrieved 2021-07-31.
- ↑ "Vergangene Ausstellungen" (in German). Retrieved 2021-07-31.
- ↑ "Tesfaye Urgessa. Beyond | Uffizi Galleries". www.uffizi.it. Retrieved 2021-07-31.
- ↑ "Archiv - Galerie Tobias Schrade". www.galerie-tobias-schrade.de. Retrieved 2021-07-31.
- ↑ "No Country for Young Men | 30 December 2019 - 15 February 2020". Addis Fine Art. Retrieved 2021-07-31.
- ↑ Meghoo, Dr Desta (2019-12-23). "Where is the Country for Young Men?". capital Newspaper. Retrieved 2021-07-31.
- ↑ "Rundgang 2014: Die Preisträgerinnen und Preisträger". 2014-07-13.