Lot 59 – Charity Lot Tamrat Gezahegne
Tamrat Gezahegne (Ethiopian, born 1977)
Adorned Body, 2015
Signed ‘tamrat/G 2007, 2015’ (verso)
Acrylic on canvas
130 x 120 cm
Ksh 340,000 – 450,000
(US$) 3,000 – 4,000
Provenance: private collection of The African Arts Trust
Sold Ksh 493,080
Tamrat Gezahegne’s relentlessly experimental studio practice moves between painting, installation and performance. His work often attends to indigenous knowledge forms and the cultural practices of ancient societies of Africa, in particular the people of the Omo Valley in Ethiopia.
Born in Addis Ababa in 1977, Gezahegne graduated from the Alle School of Fine Arts and Design with a diploma in Painting. He is a founding member of NAS Studio and Netsa Art Village in Addis Ababa. In addition to numerous group and solo exhibitions in Ethiopia, Gezahegne has exhibited in the Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, the USA and Kenya, most recently in the group exhibition Addis Contemporary II, Circle Art Gallery, Nairobi, 2021. In 2016 Gezahegne was artist-in-residence at JIWAR, Barcelona, and in 2012 at the Luxor International Studio in Egypt. In 2014 his work was featured in the Africa Now auction at Bonhams Auction House in London.
All proceeds of this sale (inclusive of auction commission) will go to The African Arts Trust to provide grants to East African artists and organisations.