Tizta Berhanu

Addis

5 January – 9 March 2025

Tizta Berhanu Agape

Fine Art, Addis Ababa

Tizta Berhanu’s solo exhibition, Agape, opens at our Addis Ababa gallery on 5 January, 2025. The title of the exhibition comes from the Ancient Greek word which refers to the highest form of love, a divine love which transcends and endures against all obstacles.

Tizta Berhanu was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 1991 where she has lived and worked her entire life. She graduated in 2013 from the Addis Ababa University, Alle School of Fine Arts and Design.

Tizta Berhanu continues to explore love in these recent works, mining its depths and complexities to find new dimensions. Inspired by feelings of compassion and empathy, Tizta reflects on her life and her interactions with people through her oil paintings.

Cool and subdued colors are translucently layered on the canvas in waves of swirling brushstrokes. The figures glow in lucent light, inviting the observer to investigate their emotions. Faces with discernible expressions emerge from these dreamlike compositions. Their embraces are intimate but even in the midst of their entanglement, their identity is not obscured.

The figures are an amalgamation of expressions and gestures she gleaned from models, photographs, and people on the internet, collaged into a composition of her own imagination. Tizta intends these works to incite empathy in the observer, encouraging a deeper engagement with the relationships we have with each other.

Tizta’s work has been exhibited in various group and solo shows in Nigeria, South Africa, Sweden, and the United States, including three solo exhibitions with Addis Fine Art: Heber in Addis Ababa (2021), The Armory Show in New York (2021), and Synthesis of Souls in London (2023).

Written by Hiwot Abebe

Pile of care, 2024

Oil on canvas

170 x 150 cm

Weeping with those who weep , 2024

Oil on canvas

170 x 180 cm

Big hug, 2024

Oil on Canvas

100 x 100 cm

Olive sisters, 2024

Oil on canvas

160 x 220 cm

Melting into one, 2024

Oil on canvas

170 x 180 cm

Rejoicing with those who rejoice , 2024

Oil on canvas

170 x 180 cm

Feeling each other's pain, 2024

Oil on canvas

170 x 180 cm

Pulling closer, 2024

Oil on canvas

100 x 110 cm

Intertwined, 2024

Oil on canvas

110 x 110 cm

Black with White, 2024

Oil on canvas

100 x 90 cm

Relationship Spiral, 2024 Oil on canvas

120 x 110 cm

Hand in hand, 2024

Oil on canvas

170 x 130 cm

Light of the world, 2024 Oil on canvas

170 x 150 cm

Born in 1991 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She currently lives and works in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

EDUCATION

2019 BFA, Painting, Addis Ababa University, Alle School of Fine Arts and Design, Addis Ababa Ethiopia

STUDIO ARTS EXPERIENCE

2016 Teaching Assistant, Figure Drawing, Alle School of Fine Arts and Design, AAU, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2025 Agape , Addis Fine Art, Addis Ababa

2023 Synthesis of Souls , Addis Fine Art, London

2021 The Armory Show, with Addis Fine Art, New York, USA

2021 Heber , Addis Fine Art, Addis Ababa

2020 Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town, South Africa

2017 Living Portraits , Tonya Art Gallery, Seattle, USA Features of Emotions , Lela Contemporary Art Gallery, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024 Connected Threads: Contemporary Art from the Horn of Africa and Diaspora , Addis Fine Art, New York, USA

2024 Beyond Veils, Rele Gallery, Lagos, Nigeria

2024 Norval Sovereign African Art Prize Finalists, Norval Founda tion, Cape Town, South Africa

2022 When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting , Zeitz MoCAA, Cape Town, South Africa

2021 From Modern to Contemporary: Artists from the Horn of Africa and Diaspora , CFHILL, Stockholm, Sweden

2019 Addis Calling III, Addis Fine Art Gallery, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

2018 Human Rights, UNECA, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

2017 Dare Carry On, The German Development Cooperation Office, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

2016 That Art Fair, Cape Town, South Africa

2015 Art of Ethiopia, Sheraton Addis, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

2014 Addis Art Fair, Millennium Hall, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

2014 Art of Ethiopia, Sheraton Addis, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

2014 Tizta and Selam , Galera Tomoka, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

2013 Cutlog Art Fair, Atelier Richelieu, Paris, France

2012 Inspire Women, Laphto Art Gallery, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Addis Fine Art is a leading African contemporary art gallery based in Addis Ababa. The gallery was founded in 2016 by Rakeb Sile and Mesai Haileleul, with a focus on artists from Ethiopia, the Horn of Africa, and its diasporas. Since then, it has championed African artists on the international stage and established itself as a significant voice in the contemporary African art market, with Artsy dubbing it one of the “Most Important Young Galleries in the World” (Artsy 2019). It has developed an international programme showcasing emerging and midcareer artists. The gallery's Addis Ababa location has evolved into a regional incubator for undiscovered talent, exhibiting and developing the careers of emerging artists. Working alongside other local galleries and foundations, Addis Fine Art works to promote sustainable art ecosystems from the continent.

Credits:

Addis Fine Art

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Designed by Lucy Harbut