Ephrem Solomon was born in Ethiopia in 1983. Solomon creates inquisitive works using wood cut panels and mixed media based on his socio-political observations of contemporary Addis Ababa. Trained in traditional printmaking, Solomon uses carved marks for constructed portraits informed by the people around him, creating figures that can be recognised, but are also invisible in society.
Ephrem Solomon, Ethiopia
Solomon graduated with a diploma in Fine Art and Graphic Design from Entoto Art School in Addis Ababa. Since the beginning of his career he has found that Ethiopian audiences do not consider his work as art and do not appreciate it. Solomon feels that the biggest reason behind this is that he uses visual language to express the modern human condition which is mostly a practice recognised internationally. He has therefore found audiences who understand abroad and appreciates the opportunity to show his work outside of his native land.
His series of portraits titled Forbidden Fruits features faces: be it sad, neutral, or distorted faces, which represents people’s faces in the real world where faces are not perfect. The faces belong to people in the physical realm and in the artist’s imagination. All the portraits are pictured at the centre which the artist translates to the people in the portraits existing in the present.
To get into his creative process for this series, Solomon observed around the stadium in Addis Ababa where he made sketches of people’s different facial expressions. This was a good place for this project because it is where people gather, laugh, and play games while expressing their genuine momentarily emotions as they happen. As much as people’s expressions may be different in a single moment, Solomon found that feelings and expressions are repetitive. When a portrait looks like it is showing a facial expression another portrait has shown it is because it is. This also translates to the events of life. As a travelling artist he finds that certain things happen wherever he is, for example immigration officials always question his papers and credentials, making life a circle, making life eternity.
In 2014 he had his first solo exhibition at Tiwani Contemporary in London, England. His other solo exhibitions include the Recycle exhibition at the Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery in Berlin, Germany. Group exhibitions include Pangaea II: New art from Africa and Latin America at Saatchi Gallery in London and Contemporary African Art and its Caricature in Japan. His work is included in private collections in the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
