Collection: Girmachew Getnet

Girmachew Getnet is an Ethiopian artist based in Frankfurt that surprises with his use of colours: for him pigments are a way, artistical and spiritual at the same time, to express both information and energy. His references are broad, from African traditional art to more contemporary artistic styles such as German Expressionism: for Girmachew Getnet too, colour has a deep spiritual significance and meanings. For the artist in particular the deep golden yellow, predominant in most of his canvases, is a symbol of vitality and energy and both these sensations are so vigorously transmitted by expert brushstrokes that are almost tangible.

Girmachew Getnet (born in 1980 in Ethiopia) graduated from the Addis Ababa Fine Arts and Design School in 2001. Shortly thereafter he established the first art studio in the Ethiopian capital called the Habesha Art Studio.
His work has been shown at the Alliance Ethio-Française, Goethe Institute and Gebre Kristos Center in Ethiopia, at the Kunstverein Familie Montez in Frankfurt, at the Circle Gallery in Nairobi, at the Gallery DOXA in Slovakia, at the Lela Gallery in Ethiopia, at the Addis Fine Art Gallery in London, at the CFHILL Gallery in Stockholm and at the Simchovitz Gallery in Los Angeles.
Girmachew Getnet

Available works

›Colours of Utopia‹ 2023

Colour and Symbolism - Girmachew Getnet

For the artist Girmachew Getnet, colour plays a prominent role as a creative tool. His expressive compositions always follow the same meaningful dimensions: on the one hand, there are the characteristic black heads that are at the centre of the picture, surrounded by colourful, bright and expressive strokes of colour. The material of the colour is written impasto onto the untreated linen, creating an immediate contrast between the untreated background and the modelled foreground.


The artist's sources of inspiration are wide-ranging: predominantly inspired by African art and culture, he mixes these impressions with references to German expressionism and contemporary styles. Both nature and the idea of ​​an all-encompassing universe feed the creativity with which he creates his works. He repeatedly positions himself in direct dialogue with his surroundings and the self-portrait finds its way into the colorful imagery. The Girmachew Getnet ses, in turn, is juxtaposed with different animals and insects, such as parrots and bees, thus creating relationships in the colorful image space.


The seemingly random brushstrokes that appear almost explosively on the canvas are the result of a conscious and concentrated analysis by the artist and are only mixed together and into each other on the background of the painting. The color thus comes to life through intensity and acquires incredible expressiveness.

Impressions

Girmachew Getnet Galerie Lachenmann Art
Girmachew Getnet Galerie Lachenmann Art
Girmachew Getnet Galerie Lachenmann Art
Girmachew Getnet Galerie Lachenmann Art
Girmachew Getnet Galerie Lachenmann Art
Girmachew Getnet Galerie Lachenmann Art