Tegene Kunbi: Solo Show

Born in Ethiopia, Tegene Kunbi’s art draws from his African heritage while engaging with global artistic movements, fusing traditional African aesthetics with contemporary forms of expression.

His artworks are colorful and balanced at the same time. Each hue is chosen and painted in conversation with the others on the canvas. From a structural point of view, the visual harmony is conveyed through the rectilinear grid, which is the ever-evolving element in the artist’s production. Depending on the tonality, density and the grid chosen, each canvas is invaded by dynamism and details. 

 

Kunbi often recalls Ethiopia and its culture in his canvases, whether it is with the geometrical grid, which reminds us of the warp and weft of traditional textiles used in religious ceremonies, or the bright colors usually associated with gowns and African fashion. 

 

Tegene Kunbi’s signature textural brushstrokes echo a certain primitivism: the adoration of the sight and the primal hues of the earth and of course Ethiopia. The colors are the ones characterizing his own country, from the greens reminiscent of grass and plants, to the reds and orange, a clear reflection of the clayey depressions typical of the African land. 

These hues are juxtaposed with scraps of traditional Ethiopian fabrics in abstract compositions allowing him to transcend the literal and delve into the emotional, psychological, and spiritual dimensions of his subjects. The artist’s intent is not descriptive, it is instead to recall the organic nature of the soil, the powerful waves of the sea and the crisp movement of the foliage. 

Tegene Kunbi considers art like a ritual, performed through repetitive gestures and movements of the brush. It is a deeply transformative, spiritual, and cultural practice that connects individuals to higher truths and collective memory.