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Evolve Urban Arts Project present: From Dark To Light

From Dark To Light

thru September 24, 2007

Gezahey1

Recently many of our residents have started recommending and referring some remarkable artists to be exhibited at the Evolve Urban Arts Gallery @ Pierce School Lofts.  Evolve Urban Arts Project is proud to begin our 2007 -2008 season with two such referrals.  Keep ‘em coming!!!


Clayton Broga, runs a youth mentoring and tutoring program for refugee youth in the Charlottesville-Albemarle area.  Clayton recently moved to Washington, DC and he had only been an Evolve resident for a few months when he suggested that we check out an artist that he knew quite well.   Gidey Gezahey, is one of the adult men in Clayton's program, who just happens to be a fantastic artist from Ethiopia.


Gidey has led an amazing life and it certainly shows in his artwork. Fleeing from Ethiopia to Egypt due to violence, he was then imprisoned by Egypt because of the political/social undertones to some of his paintings (unity of the nation and peace above politics... a beautiful message). He endured atrocious conditions and treatment, eventually escaping to safety, only to return to rescue his family. Finally the International Rescue Committee granted him eligibility to come to the US. He's a fantastic artist and a great man and we are proud to feature his works August 1 - September 24, 2007 in the Evolve Urban Arts Gallery @ Pierce School Lofts.  An opening reception and exhibit will be offered for Second Saturday on August 11, 2007 from 4:00 - 7:00.  A unique tasting menu of Hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be paired with selected works.

Gidey Gezahey studied art at the Minilik School of Fine Art in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and later at the Comboni House in Cairo, Egypt.  Having lived in Eritrea for many years, he left unrest there, traveling on foot across the Sudan to Egypt where he settled for a time and continued his pursuit of art.  He says that he can only create when his spirit is positive...when that mood changes he rests his brush.  Each of his oil paintings are crafted from a place where the spirit and mind commune peacefully, bringing forth imagery that haunts the soul and delights the imagination.

 

Take a leisurely moment to surround yourself with the imagery that evolves from the mind of this Ethiopian artist who's been recognized in Egyptian and French art circles.  He was recently discovered in Charlottesville, Virginia where he now makes his home and is building a body of work in anticipation of his first major U.S. exhibition.

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See more of Gidey Gezahey's work at:  http://www.artndeed.com/id74.html

Posted by Christopher Swanson on August 1, 2007 04:00 AM |