Kerima Ahmed
Nightmare 1, 2013.
About:
Kerima Ahmed was born in Addis Ababa in 1978, and graduated from the Addis Ababa University, Alle School of Fine Arts and Design in 2002. Ahmed specialises in compelling surreal and highly stylised scenes of everyday life. She uses bold outlines, geometric shapes and a selective earthy palette to construct rhythmically appealing compositions, simultaneously paying tribute to Ethiopian painting tradition and dynamically challenging its expressive possibilities. Her works focus on collective human experiences, transposing and translating them using her captivating and distinctive abstract visual language.
Untitled, IX, 2012
Untitled X, 2012.
Untitled XIII, 2013.
Her recent solo exhibitions include: Columbia City Gallery, Seattle (2013), C Art Gallery, Seattle (2012), Norm Maxwell Studio Gallery, Los Angeles (2011) and Arthur Rimbaud Museum, Harar (2005, 2006). Group showings include: Circle Art Gallery, Nairobi (2015), LeLa Art Gallery, Addis Ababa (2014), Art of Ethiopia, Sheraton Addis Ababa (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013), National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa (2007, 2013), amongst others across Djibouti, Uganda, Sudan, the Netherlands, Austria and France.
Ahmed also holds a Bachelors degree in Ethiopian Language and Literature.