Lot 7

Ephrem Solomon (Ethiopian, born 1983)
Folk Memory 5 (from the Folk Memory series), 2015
Signed verso with the artist’s signature
Woodcut plate and acrylic
79 x 74 cm
Reduced price KES 950,000 plus buyers premium
Provenance: Private collection

Ephrem Solomon creates inquisitive works using wood cut panels and mixed media based on his socio-political observations of contemporary Addis Ababa. Trained in traditional printmaking, Solomon uses the carved marks to make constructed portraits informed by the people who inhabit the spaces around him, creating figures that can be recognized, but are also invisible in society. “They can be me or you. They are anyone” he says.

Solomon graduated with a Diploma in Fine Art and Graphic Design from Entoto Art School in Addis Ababa. Solo exhibitions include LIFE VS TIME, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London, 2016 and Untitled Life, Tiwani Contemporary, London, 2014. He has been included in numerous international group exhibitions, including What About Africa?, Witteveen Visual Art Centre, Amsterdam, 2016, Nine Artists, Stevenson Gallery, Capetown, 2015 and Pangaea II: New art from Africa and Latin America, Saatchi Gallery, London, 2015. His work is in private collections in Dubai, the UAE, Kenya, South Africa and the UK, including the Saatchi Collection.