Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Wednesday, April 13th, 2016
New York (TADIAS) — Leikun Nahusenay’s upcoming solo art exhibition, entitled Process and Progression, will open at the newly inaugurated Addis Fine Art gallery in Ethiopia’s capital on April 16th, 2016. Leikun was recently part of Addis Fine Art’s debut exhibition last December featuring several contemporary artists representing “the breadth and depth of artistic practice” in the city.
“Addis Fine Art gallery is pleased to continue its programme with a solo exhibition of works by multidisciplinary artist Leikun Nahusenay featuring works in photography, painting, mixed media, and sculpture,” the gallery announced in a press release. “Process and Progression is a retrospective of Nahusenay’s work over the last 16 years. Though wide-ranging in his choice of medium, Nahusenay’s exploration of the Himeme Siqlet, a sacred Ethiopian Orthodox text, is what grounds his seemingly disparate pieces together, through its evocation of the world’s opposing forces (light, dark; flesh, spirit; good, evil) and the futility of their reconciliation.”
Leikun Nahusenay was born in 1982 in Addis Ababa and completed his art training from the Ale School of Fine Arts (2006) and Teferi Mekonnen School (2011). As a member of the Netsa Art Village Leikun largely considers himself as a self-taught artist, and has based his multidisciplinary practice at the Nas Gedame Studio in Addis Ababa. His work has been shown at numerous exhibitions including the Addis Calling exhibit in December 2015.
“Nahusenay’s fascination with life’s cyclical nature, and its expression in physical spaces, is evident throughout the collection,” adds the press release. “Informed by the simple yet layered, circular structure of a traditional hut, Gojo Bet (2000) one of his earliest works, features interposed cardboard shapes, each of various textures, sizes, and shades of taupe, suggesting movement, and a certain playfulness of perspective. This playfulness seeps into other pieces where Nahusenay quite literally offers us a window into a dark, tenuous landscape, albeit through the protective shield of a woman’s shawl.”
Founded by Mesai Haileleul and Rakeb Sile, Addis Fine Art gallery aims to represent established and emerging international artists primarily from Ethiopia and the Diaspora. Addis Fine Art Gallery participated in the 2016 Armory Show in New York City this past March.
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If You Go:
Process and Progression Exhibit – Leikun Nahusenay
Date: April 16th – June 11th, 2016
Location: Addis Fine Art Gallery, 3rd Floor, Wold-Fikir Building
Bole Medhane Alem, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tel: +251 913 426553
www.addisfineart.com