Abiy | Contemporary Artist: Artworks & Biography

Abiy

France
Painter

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Free from the weight of my own traditions, my compositions provide a sense of universal art.

An Ethiopian artist, Abiy first became known in his country after having studied and taught art in Addis-Ababa. The Ethiopian-French Alliance was the first to believe in his work and to export his art to France. In 2006, his participation in the 1 st Congress of African writers at Unesco in Paris marked an important milestone in his career. He then settled in a small town in the Ardeche two years later. A member of Az'arts since 2010, he participates in numerous exhibitions of the Ardeche community, while increasing his appearances in the artistic events of the region

While painting (oils, acrylics) remain his prefers medium, Abiy likes to vary techniques (collage, pastel, chalk…) and media (paper, canvas, glass). Numerous elements are reminiscent of his training at the School of Fine Arts and his preferred painters: Jean-Michel Basquiat (20th century), Egon Schiele (19th and 20th centuries) and Wosene Kosrof. His swaying nude women are reminiscent of the unstructured figures of Pablo Picasso (20th century). With his diversity, his style is a unique blend of urban elements and populist traditions. His roots can be seen in his choice of vivid colours and African motifs. With their large missing eyes, his portraits evoke the exoticism of ceremonial masques. His painting reveals with sincerity the double face of his natal Ethiopia: an apparent gaiety, under which runs a deep melancholy.