Tadesse Mesfin: Pillars of Life series, 2018
Guleet
About:
Winner of the 1998 prestigious Mid-American Arts Alliance (MAAA) fellowship, Tadesse Mesfin (b. 1953) has spent the last thirty-three years teaching at the Alle School of Fine Art. Mesfin’s Pillars of Life series are contemporary interpretations of frontal figures in columnar arrangements. The works are reductive and minimal with the women being the sole inhabitants of the canvas. The sculptural arrangements celebrate women who work as smallholder vendors in several markets around Ethiopian cities. Infused with local colours the works are influenced by ancient Egyptian sculptures and mythological drawings and hint at eastern Ethiopian cities like Harar.
Strength
Friendship
Courage
Patience
Mesfin’s recent solo exhibitions include, The Pillars of Life, Addis Fine Art Gallery, Addis Ababa (2018), In Search of Rhythm, Alliance Ethio-Française, Addis Ababa (2014), with his work being featured in group exhibitions such as the FNB Joburg Art Fair, Johannesburg (2018), the Art of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa (2013, 2010).