Studio portrait of artist Emanuel Tegene.
Emanuel Tegene (b. 1985, Ethiopia) is a neo-expressionist painter based in Addis Ababa, whose work bridges personal memory and collective consciousness, local histories and global influences. Tegene, who was initially self-taught, holds a Bachelor’s degree in painting from TMS Art School at the University of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. His practice has evolved over the past 15 years into a distinct visual language that fuses gestural abstraction, symbolic inscriptions, and layered storytelling. His paintings draw from the raw energy of Neo-Expressionism, yet remain deeply anchored in Ethiopian narratives, confronting themes of power, intimacy, and transformation.
Working with oil, acrylic, ink, charcoal, and pastels, Tegene constructs complex yet balanced compositions, where color does not merely describe but disrupts. His canvases are marked by fractured forms, vibrant palettes, and recurring symbols—birds, arrows, coins, and text fragments—shaping a visual lexicon that is at once personal and political. He invites viewers to engage with meaning that is never fixed, where figures emerge and dissolve, where memory is both built up and scraped away.
In 2018, Emanuel Tegene participated in the 13th edition of the Dakar Biennale ‘The Red Hour’, under the curatorial direction of Simon Njami. Other notable exhibitions and presentations include: ‘Horny Bird’ at Quatorzerohuit Art Gallery (solo), 2016 Marrakech Biennale ‘Not New Now’. ‘African Perspectives’ at The Armory Show, ‘Addis Calling’ at Addis Fine Art Gallery etc.