Through March 5, 2022, Fridman Gallery and Rachel Uffner Gallery are offering the New York public the first independent exhibition of Ethiopian contemporary artist-painter Hana Yilma Godine : « A Hair Salon in Addis Ababa » in their respective galleries.
Each exhibition will feature new works by Hana Yilma Godine that depict female heroines in public and domestic spaces through their own efforts, drawing on common scenes from her former neighborhood of Addis Ababa: preparing for wedding festivities, calling out to each other in stores, or relaxing in their living rooms.
In a male-centered culture destroyed by fierce communal conflict, artist Hana Yilma Godine presents an egalitarian aspect where women are protected from savagery and allowed to articulate their thoughts autonomously from social restrictions.
Hana Yilma Godine‘s use of a rectified point of view, elongated figures, and equally scattered light is reminiscent of Ethiopian iconography that emphasizes the divinity of scriptural subjects by rejecting the principles of natural representation.
Moreover, the Ethiopian artist’s works are, as a rule, firmly rooted in reality – she paints on conventional textures that women buy in convenience stores and turn into affordable dresses. She wraps her brushstrokes around the impression of the texture, occasionally leaving the colorful examples pristine, sometimes letting them show faintly through the painted layers.
Combining traditional materials with strong color schemes and arrangements, her artworks seem to travel through time, offering an avant-garde perspective located in soul, region, care and confidence, as Hana Yilma Godine views painting as a space that intersperses with the overall framework, welcoming the past, present and future into one united structure.
The figures are an integral part of the structures. Their vivid, direct and glued surfaces recommend inserted narratives and encapsulated feelings. An emblematic way for her to convey the complexity of her subjects’ lives, a source of life in her artistic creations.