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Addis Fine Art London presents ‘Pace of Life’ by Nigatu Tsehay. A new body of work that explores the interrelations between human beings and the spaces they inhabit. The exhibition is a part of the 2022 edition of London Gallery Weekend.
Born in Addis Ababa and currently working in Frankfurt, Nigatu’s works are inspired by his lived experience within different cultures and the shared humanity that he’s encountered. Rich with human forms, Nigatu likens his canvases to a suddenly paused film scene – an instant in time bearing the weight of existence. His works are replete with distorted characters who frequently gaze in disparate directions, hands and feet punctuating a forested twist of limbs.
‘Pace of Life’ is a continuation of Tsehay’s investigation of, “the indefinable behavioural nature of mankind.” Using his chosen material of oil and acrylic on canvas, Tsehay’s surrealist-like complex compositions of distorted bodies combine body parts and still life to show us how an individual is merely a reflection of the spaces and faces around him. Through association with others and objects, Nigatu aims to illuminate shared stories and histories by piecing together various sentiments.
Nigatu was recently included in ‘Winner Takes All’ (2021), a group show at Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York co-curated by Larry Ossei-Mensah and Amoako Boafo.
In 2016, Rakeb Sile and Mesai Haileleul co-founded Addis Fine Art, creating the first white-cube gallery space for modern and contemporary art in Ethiopia. Described as one of the “Most Important Young Galleries in the World” (Artsy 2019), the gallery has since then grown to become one of the leading galleries in Africa, establishing a prominent international platform for artists from the Horn of Africa.
In October 2021, the gallery moved into expanded premises in London, a two-storey gallery space in the heart of Fitzrovia. The London gallery programme encapsulates Addis Fine Art’s commitment to heightened international exposure for, and critical reappraisal of, African art on the world stage. The gallery’s Addis Ababa space continues to be an incubator for emerging talent, facilitating critical engagement within the local market and encouraging the growth and development of the art world ecosystem on the continent. The gallery will also serve as a space for artists from the diaspora to return to the continent and share and develop their practice.
__medium.jpg&description=Addis Fine Art London presents 'Pace of Life' by Nigatu Tsehay. A new body of work that explores the interrelations between human beings and the spaces they inhabit. The exhibition is a part of the 2022 edition of London Gallery Weekend.
Born in Addis Ababa and currently working in Frankfurt, Nigatu’s works are inspired by his lived experience within different cultures and the shared humanity that he’s encountered. Rich with human forms, Nigatu likens his canvases to a suddenly paused film scene – an instant in time bearing the weight of existence. His works are replete with distorted characters who frequently gaze in disparate directions, hands and feet punctuating a forested twist of limbs. From the press release. ){kind=link}