Tesfaye Bekele (b. 1982) grew up in Addis Ababa during a shifting
cultural and political landscape in the country. He became interested
in drawing as a young child as a means of documenting his
community, and in 2007 he entered the Addis Ababa University Alle
School of Fine Arts and Design to pursue a degree in Art Education.
Bekele currently teaches at the School of Fine Arts, and his work has
been included in numerous group and solo exhibitions in Ethiopia,
Kenya, and Germany.
Bekele begins his large-scale fluid abstractions with his canvas on the
floor. With a brush fixed to the end of a long stick, which he uses like
an extended arm, he drips and pulls skeins of thinned paint across the
surface to create a gestural skeleton of interwoven lines. Balancing his
body on a pair of metal crutches, he sways gently back and forth to
create sweeping lines that remain charged with movement.
With a background in biology and physiology, Bekele’s works are
informed by his knowledge of the synapses, muscles, and bones of
the human body. These intricate anatomical networks are reflected
in the vibrant forms that twist across his canvases, pulsing with the
energetic echo of the artist’s physical manoeuvres, and resulting in
powerful expressions that embody a desire to overcome limitations
and find fulfilment in the freedom of artistic creation.