Theo Eshetu : Constellations

Tiwani Contemporary now represents Theo Eshetu and announces his first solo exhibition in the UK. Considered one of the most influential media practitioners of the contemporary era, the London-born Ethiopian artist and filmmaker is known for his pioneering work across film, television and video. Since the early 1980s, Theo Eshetu has combined the formal components of film with anthropological ideas to examine the notion of culture itself. His manipulation of time and light leads to work that draws on themes and images from the artist's dual European and African background. As one of the first artists to work exclusively with video art, Eshetu has contributed significantly to the medium's recognition within the context of fine art. Eshetu's long form essay-films and multiscreen video installations have gained him international recognition at numerous film festivals (Venice, New York, Mill Valley, Edinburgh, London, Montreal, Fespaco) and museums. Tiwani Contemporary will show Eshetu's acclaimed 2014 work Anima Mundi, an immersive multimedia and video installation, as well as the five-screen video installation Meditation Light (2006) and works from the photographic series The Mirror Ball Constellation (2013-2015). Private View: Thursday 24 September 2015 , 6.30 - 8.30 PM, rsvp: info@tiwani.co.uk Art Connect Artist Talk - Theo Eshetu in Conversation with Elvira Dyangani Ose: Saturday 26 September 2015, 3pm, rsvp: info@tiwani.co.uk Artist and filmmaker Theo Eshetu discusses his work with Elvira Dyangani Ose, Lecturer in Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London, and curator of the current edition of the Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art, GIBCA 2015. Theo Eshetu was born in 1958 in London and grew up in Addis Ababa, Dakar and London before establishing himself in Rome. He currently lives and works in Berlin. Throughout the '80s and '90s, his works were shown at major video art festivals, receiving awards in Berlin, Milan and Locarno. Solo shows include: Brave New World at the Museum of African Art, The Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC (2010) and the Baltimore Museum of Art (2006); and the multiscreen video installation The Return of the Axum Obelisk at the Unesco Headquarters, Paris (2009), Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels (2010), DAADGalerie, Berlin (2014) and the American Academy in Rome (2015). Eshetu's works have also been presented at the Kochi Biennale (2014), the 54th Venice Biennale (2011), The Sharjah Biennial (2011), The Tropics (2009, curated by Alfons Hug) and Snap Judgments (2006, curated by Okwui Enwezor). Work by Eshetu is currently showing at the Göteborg Biennial and the Deutsche Bank Kunsthalle in Berlin (curated by Simon Njami). www.tiwani.co.uk