Wikipedia

Tesfaye Urgessa

Tesfaye Geleta Urgessa (born 1983; Amharic: ተስፋዬ ገለታ ኡርጌሳ) is an Ethiopian-born painter. He is from Addis Ababa, and has been based in Germany since 2009.[1][2]

Tesfaye Urgessa
ተስፋዬ ገለታ ኡርጌሳ
Born1983 (age 40–41)
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
EducationAllé School of Fine Arts and Design, State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart (MA)
OccupationVisual artist
Known forPainting

Career

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Tesfaye Urgessa was born in 1983 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.[3] He studied under Mezgebu Tessema, Tadesse Mesfin, and Bisrat Shibabaw in Ethiopia.[1] He graduated from the Allé School of Fine Arts and Design in Addis Ababa in 2006; and received a M.A. degree in 2014 from the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart in Stuttgart, Germany.[4]

Urgessa was taught by professors who had studied art in Russia in the 1970s and 1980s, when the dominant art movement was socialist realism.[5] Their focus was on the study of anatomy, which influenced Urgessa’s style.[5]

At this time, through internet research, Urgessa's practice was inspired by prominent artists in Europe including Picasso, Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon.[5]

Themes

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Tesfaye Urgessa’s images have themes of racism, class, policy brutality, injustice in politics and power.[5][better source needed] He combines traditional figuration with Ethiopian iconography, Cubism, and 1980s German Neo-expressionism.[6]

Exhibitions

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Urgessa exhibited in "Oltre/Beyond" at The Uffizi Gallerie in Florence in 2018,[2] and again in 2021.[7] 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.[6]

Urgessa will represent Ethiopia at the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia in 2024, the first time that the country will be participating with a national pavilion.[8]

Exhibitions

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  • 2015, Body and Soul, Sympra GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany[9]
  • 2015, Free Fall, Galerie Evelyn Drewes, Hamburg, Germany[10]
  • 2015, Untitled, Galerie K, Köln, Germany
  • 2016, Ethiopia Today - Begegnung mit Äthiopien, Kunstation Kleinassen, Hofbieber-Kleinassen[11]
  • 2016, Fremdkörper, Schacher – Raum für Kunst, Stuttgart, Germany
  • 2017, Auszeit, Galerieverein Wendlingen, Wendlingen, Germany[12]
  • 2017, Free Fall, Galerie Evelyn Drewes, Hamburg, Germany[13]
  • 2018, No Country for Young Men, Galerieverein Leonberg, Leonberg, Germany[14]
  • 2018, Oltre/Beyond, Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy[15][16]
  • 2019, Atemzug, Galerie Tobias Schrade, Ulm, Germany[17]
  • 2019, Ich Halte Dich Festhalten, Schacher – Raum für Kunst, Stuttgart, Germany
  • 2019, No Country for Young Men, Addis Fine Art, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia[18]
  • 2019, Von Denen Die Auszogen, State Galerie Villa, Streccius, Landau, Germany[19]

Awards

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  • 2014, Akademiepreis der Kunstakademie Stuttgart, Germany[20]
  • 2010, Camillo-Michele-Gloria-Preis, GasVersorgung Süddeutschland, Stuttgart, Germany

References

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  1. ^ a b Valentine, Victoria L. (24 May 2020). "When He is Not in His Painting Studio, Tadesse Mesfin is Training the Next Generation of Ethiopian Artists". Culture Type. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  2. ^ a b "Firenze. A Palazzo Pitti le opere di Tesfaye Urgessa". ArteMagazine.it (in Italian). Archived from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  3. ^ "Saatchi Yates open a solo show of new paintings by Tesfaye Urgessa". ArtDaily.cc. 5 June 2021. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  4. ^ "Tesfaye Urgessa - Overview". Newchild. [better source needed]. Retrieved 2021-07-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  5. ^ a b c d "Tesfaye Urgessa". Saatchi Yates. [better source needed]. Retrieved 2021-07-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. ^ a b "The Bodies That Matter - The Figuration of Tesfaye Urgesse | Widewalls". www.widewalls.ch. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  7. ^ Julia Buckley. "One of Italy's most famous sites just reopened with a striking change". CNN. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  8. ^ Lawson-Tancred, Jo (2024-02-15). "Ethiopia Names Artist for Its First-Ever National Pavilion at the Venice Biennale". Artnet News. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  9. ^ "2. Führung mit dem Kurator durch "25 - 25 - 25"". Sympra (in German). [better source needed]. Retrieved 2021-07-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. ^ "Tesfaye Urgessa". Evelyn Drewes Galerie. [better source needed]. Retrieved 2021-07-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  11. ^ "Ethiopia Today". Kunststation Kleinsassen (in German). Retrieved 2021-07-31.
  12. ^ "Tesfaye Urgessa: "Auszeit"". Galerieverein Wendlingen (in German). Retrieved 2021-07-31.
  13. ^ "Tesfaye Urgessa "free fall"". kunstaspekte.de (in German). Retrieved 2021-07-31.
  14. ^ "Vergangene Ausstellungen" (in German). Retrieved 2021-07-31.
  15. ^ "Tesfaye Urgessa. Beyond". Uffizi Galleries. Retrieved 2021-07-31.
  16. ^ Pogrebin, Robin (January 31, 2022). "Uffizi Gallery, Bastion of Tradition, Evolves (Slowly) With the Times". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  17. ^ "Archiv - Galerie Tobias Schrade". www.galerie-tobias-schrade.de. [better source needed]. Retrieved 2021-07-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  18. ^ "No Country for Young Men | 30 December 2019 - 15 February 2020". Addis Fine Art. Retrieved 2021-07-31.
  19. ^ Meghoo, Desta (23 December 2019). "Where is the Country for Young Men?". Capital Newspaper. Retrieved 2021-07-31.
  20. ^ "Rundgang 2014: Die Preisträgerinnen und Preisträger". 2014-07-13.
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