Tegene Kunbi – Dripping time fading memory

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Primo Marella Gallery in Milan is pleased to present Dripping time, fading memory, Tegene Kunbi's new solo exhibition, opening on February 20th, 2025.

Born in 1980 in Ethiopia, Tegene Kunbi’s artwork is a powerful blend of vibrant colors and rich textures that captivate the viewer. His bold use of oil paints brings life to the canvas, reflecting the earthy tones of Ethiopia—bright greens reminiscent of lush landscapes, vivid reds and oranges echoing the clay of the land, and deep blues representing the purity of the sky and sea. Kunbi’s work isn’t about simply depicting landscapes but about conveying the organic essence of the land, the powerful sea, and the movement of nature. His goal is to celebrate Ethiopia’s culture and heritage, affirming the strength of the soil and its people.

Kunbi’s mastery of both small and large-scale canvases showcases his technical skill and fearlessness. His brushwork, fluid and confident, is like an expression of life itself. The grid patterns that appear in his work don't restrict the colors; instead, they channel them, adding depth and structure while allowing the expressive power to flow freely. His style blends influences of abstract expressionism and modernist movements, particularly recalling Rothko’s tonal works and Mondrian’s chaotic grids. However, Kunbi sets himself apart with the introduction of fabric in his paintings. This fabric, often of religious significance, elevates the work, infusing it with a deeper sense of meaning and connecting it to Ethiopia’s sacred traditions.
The textiles in Kunbi’s art embody more than just color; they symbolize life, history, and spirituality. His works convey a struggle, but not one of conflict—rather, a unity of passion, culture, and history. The colors and textures are a celebration of Ethiopia's ancient rituals, songs, and stories. Kunbi views painting as a ritual itself—an ongoing dance of remembrance and celebration. The act of painting, like a ritual, brings together the past and present, forming a collective expression of shared identity and history. Through this process, Kunbi’s work becomes an exploration of self-discovery, uniting people through the universal language of color, form, and tradition.

Colour is a vocabulary I use to give voice to aspects of my cultural heritage. Each hue is a conversation with the next, producing a sense of harmony and tension. Tonality, density and the rectilinear grid are also an integral part of the work. Through this language I convey the dynamism and complexities within my personal experience and that of my community. The underlying structure of the paintings repeats across a large body of work. This warp and weft is intrinsic to that of the Ethiopian textiles used in religious ceremonies that are at once inspiration source and more recently a material within the works. This aesthetic framework is reinforced and challenged all at once throughout the painting process which in itself is a ritual and also fight to reclaim a form of spirituality
Tegene Kunbi