Born in Addis Ababa in 1980, Tegene Kunbu lives and works in Berlin, having left Ethiopia in 2008 to further his painting studies with an esteemed group of professors at the Universität der Künste Berlin. 

Tegene Kunbi's deliberate compositions of geometric form and color express the artist’s constant mind’s eye view on his native landscape, its clothing and the mural paintings of his homeland. His rhythmic compositions translate his African roots – the lay of the land, the narrow streets, and the color-saturated bustling, crowded marketplaces filled with textiles and daily necessities. Brushstrokes and washes of paint vary from light and translucent to thick and voluminous, the resulting surface rich with texture and a history of saturated layers built one on another. 

Recent exhibitions include Margaret Thatcher Projects and the Goethe Institute (Göttingen, DE.) The artist is the recipient of the prestigious DAAD scholarship

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1980
Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Lives and works in Germany

Education

2011
Universitat der Kunste Berlin, MFA, under Prof Pia Fries and Prof. Burkhard Held, Berlin, Germany

2009 
Universitat der Kunste Berlin, Graduate examination with Prof. Frank Badur, Berlin, Germany

2004
Fine Arts School, University of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Solo Exhibitions

2015
Danjerus Cable, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY

2014
Melting Pot, Margaret Thatcher Projects
Galerie Gerken, Berlin, Germany

2013
Painting, Kirche Dannenwalde, Gransee, Germany

2012               
Galerie Gerken, Berlin, Germany

2011                
Kunstverein Kaponier, Vechta, Germany

2010                
Galerie Gerken, Berlin, Germany

2008
Goethe Institute, Gottingen, Germany
Wasserscheune Erbsen, Gottingen, Germany 

Group Exhibitions

2015
Tasting Art, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Hotspots, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY

2013               
Frankfurt am Main (GIZ), Frankfurt, Germany

2011             
Master Student Exhibition, UDK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Galerie Gerken, Berlin, Germany

2009        
Colony Wedding, Berlin, Germany
Graduate Exhibition, UDK Berlin, Berlin, Germany

2008                
Wasserscheune Erbsen, Gottingen, Germany

2005              
Galerie Peter Herrman, Berlin, Germany