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until 16.06. | #1934ARTatBerlin | 68projects by GALERIEKORNFELD presents from 26th April 2018 the exhibition Liminal in the age of mobile-ty with artworks by the Ethiopian painter Dawit Abebe.
Liminal in the Age of Mobile-ty is the latest work by the Ethiopian artist Dawit Abebe, which he created between October 2017 and March 2018 as part of an artist residency at 68projects in Berlin. Dawit Abebe is known for his large-format canvas paintings and paper drawings, in which he examines historical and identity narratives, our notion of knowledge, questions of surveillance and privacy, as well as the progress in his relationship to nature and the environment. His works also revolve around the effects of technological change on the local and the global.
Liminal in the Age of Mobile consists of seven canvas paintings in which the artist uses the smartphone and social media icons and images as a starting point to explore the complexity of human communication through modern technology. He is concerned with what happens in the “space in between”, when interaction becomes uncontrollable and fragmentation and disruption occur, be it in history, in knowledge, in time or in space. Liminal in the Age of Mobile is supplemented by three paper drawings entitled Mutual Identity. This group of works ties in with Dawit Abebe’s X-Privacy series from 2012, in which he deals critically with the themes of power, the individual, and collective freedom.
Dawit Abebe, LIMINAL, 2017
Acrylic on Canvas, 200 x 150 cm
Dawit Abebe, who lives in his hometown of Addis Ababa, is an experienced traveler who draws inspiration from the countries and places he visits. His critical observations encourage him to grasp today’s life both locally and globally. He is fascinated by the interface between modern life and tradition and constantly questions our idea of knowledge and human values. He examines the extent and impact of globalization and technological progress on developed and developing countries, as well as on individual and collective identities. Based on a specific topic, Dawit Abebe creates a series of works that then become the starting point for his next topic and his next group of works. Thus, he repeatedly uses certain elements and thereby develops his artistic vocabulary. The works have an autobiographical dimension: his social criticism is based on his personal experiences as an insider and outsider, depending on where he is staying.
Dawit Abebe, MUTUAL IDENTITY, 2017
Chalk and Collage on Paper, 200 x 150 cm
Dawit Abebe works on large canvases, priming them, before collaging them with old exercise book pages bought at the Addis Ababa flea market. He paints the collage with color, which becomes the background on which he creates his pictures. His paintings are therefore full of meaning layers and textures that literally go beyond the surface. For Liminal in the Age of Mobile-ty, he went one step further with his experiments and created a third layer of white, wafer-thin material, on which in some cases he even painted an additional image.
Dawit Abebe was born in 1978 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He is a graduate of the All School of Fine Arts and Design (2001) of the University of Addis Ababa. Shortly after graduating from art school, he founded together with friends the collective Habesha Art Studio. Dawit Abebe has participated in several group exhibitions and has had numerous solo exhibitions in Ethiopia and other parts of the world, including the United Arab Emirates, France, Germany, Kenya, the Netherlands, South Africa, Tanzania, the United Kingdom and the United States. In Europe he is represented by the Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London. His works are in the collections Barjeel Art Foundation, Rema Hort Mann Foundation, Saatchi Gallery, Frank Cohen, Carole Server and Oliver Frankel.
Dawit Abebe, Atelieraufnahme, 2017
Vernissage: Thursday, 26th April 2018, 6–9 p.m.
Exhibition period: Thursday, 26th April – Saturday, 16th June 2018
Opening hours during Gallery Weekends 2018: Friday, 27th April: 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. , Saturday & Sunday, 28th & 29th April: 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
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Exhibition Dawit Abebe | Liminal in the age of mobile-ty – 68projects | Contemporary Art – Kunst in Berlin – ART at Berlin
