Dawit Abebe is one of the artists in ‘What about Africa. 14 contemporary African artists’, Witteveen Visual Art Centre, Amsterdam, January 23 through February 27, 2016.
XPrivacy, 2014.
About:
Dawit Abebe is an Addis Ababa based artist whose practice is representative of the complexities of the social fabric of Ethiopia, weaving together layers of history with reflective commentary on technological change.
Born in 1978, he graduated from the Alle School of Fine Arts and Design at Addis Ababa University with a diploma in painting, sculpture, graphics, photography and industrial design. Having founded the Habesha Art Sudio in 2001 with four other contemporary Ethiopian artists, he continues to practice from Habesha studio as a full-time artist in residence.
His work has been featured in both group and solo exhibitions in Ethiopian and internationally. Solo exhbitions include Background 2 at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London (2015), Background 1 at Lela Gallery, Addis Ababa (2014), and X Privacy at the Alliance Ethio-Française, Addis Ababa (2012).
Featured in the Saatchi Gallery’s Pangaea II: New Art from Africa and Latin America (March – September 2015), he has also been shown in Group exhibitions. In Kenya his work has been exhibited at Addis Contemporary (2015), Concerning The Internal (2015), East African Encounters (2014) at Circle Art Agency/Gallery in Nairobi. Additionally he has been in featured in group exhibitions such as Visibles/Invisibles at Fondation Blachere, Apt (2015), the touring Silver Sea Cross-Ship (2013-14) and the display of the Habesha Art Collection at the National Museum in Addis Ababa (2014).
In a major auction dedicated to East African art in 2014, one of the works from Abebe’s X Privacy series sold for double its estimate. His work continues to gain international recognition with a diverse range of galleries and collectors from France to the UAE taking note of his subtle yet complex artistic expression. (text and courtesy Addis Fine Art)