Artist: Tadesse Mesfin

Addis Fine Art and Vigo Gallery present a solo exhibition of paintings by Tadesse Mesfin (b. 1953). Featuring works on canvas from the last four years, the presentation takes place across Addis Fine Art, Addis Ababa and Vigo Gallery, London.

This series of Tadesse’s work celebrates the women vendors who work in markets across Ethiopia. Typically overlooked by society, Tadesse elevates their stature in his paintings. Capturing them in moments of contemplative stillness, he celebrates their essential role as the pillars of daily life.

Incorporating the Ethiopian Modernist tradition of including Amharic alphabetic script in paintings, Tadesse interprets the human figures as a type of lettering, the figures echoing the vertical loops and angles of Amharic text. In this way, the subjects of his work can be perceived as their own type of meaning makers, not merely passive beings, but actively participating in the creation of their environment. In the artist’s words, ‘through repetition they have become my symbols, my language.’

Tadesse Mesfin (b. 1953) developed his love of painting during his childhood following his family’s move to Addis Ababa, when he started work at a cinema hall painting posters for movies. At the age of fifteen, he enrolled in art school in the Ethiopian capital, and after five years of study he went on to Russia to complete his Masters of Fine Art at the Leningrad Academy of Painting, Architecture, and Sculpture. It was here that he synthesised the stoicism of Soviet social realism with his interest in West African masks and symbols. He has also continued to nourish his Ethiopian influences throughout his career, and his research on Coptic iconography and Ethiopian history remains a significant source of inspiration for his practice.

Tadesse Mesfin was a professor at the Addis Ababa University Alle School of Fine Arts and Design from 1984 to 2019, and has taught and mentored many of Ethiopia's renowned contemporary artists, including Merikokeb Berhanu and Tesfaye Urgessa. His work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions in London, Addis Ababa, New York, Stockholm, Lagos, Dubai, and Johannesburg.