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Art Education
School of Fine Arts, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 1969
Howard University School of Fine Arts, Washington, DC. 1974
Additional Role: - Sculptor / Graphic Designer / Interior Decorator

Contact....alemfinearts@yahoo.com​

phone...703-971-0259 Studio or 703-589-7111 Direct 

He lives in Springfield VA and works from his studio and has a private Art Gallery!

​        AL's preference is painting, on Canvas or paper almost on anything available involving the use of Acrylic or Watercolor often accentuated with mixed media. He uses a variety of processes and tools to deconstruct, and then construct to achieve the final piece.                     He believes that all colors go together and also have a healing effect. All his paintings are personal and have a story behind them and are expressed in response to his everyday interaction with the universe. He has always had a great love for art; and he has been fascinated by the colors, patterns, and designs of -the Ethiopian traditional Embroideries " Tibeb textiles and began working and experimenting with them four decades ago!

   The actual construction of his work is a composition of embroideries including painting Quilting and the printmaking process blending the old and the new. These works give him a sense of identity, and Alemayehou is the first Ethiopian Artist to transform Traditional Embroidery “ Tibebe” textiles into Contemporary, Modern Abstract Art. Actually, he has developed his own freestyle techniques and continued to expand his own innovative interpretations of Ethiopian Embroideries textiles into compositions of colors and forms as a core element in his paintings!  Al said the medium " Tibebe " Embroidery, became a central instrument to his work, and he became fascinated with the work of Weavers " Shemanye " and this Embroideries " Tibebe "has similar effects as the brush strokes in his paintings! 

          He said the image speaks for itself in visual language to the viewers, his sensual use of form and color- testifies to the visual power. He also feels a sense of accomplishment for the feeling these paintings bring in their presence. The results are not pictures of things but things by themselves, Names and titles may be clues to the iconography of the images, and the patterns he uses are basic Ethiopian symbols like the so many different crosses, Axum tower, Lalibela, Gonder castle, and etc. He tries to blend the beauty of Ethiopian and African traditions with modern, Contemporary Abstract art styles to express universal themes.

    He has spent his entire career working to perfect his talent as a multi-medium artist.  But as he began to explore other mediums, He discovered that each has its own unique and distinctive characteristics. 

        He has also been influenced by a variety of sources from African woodcarvings and textiles. American Music has been another major influence in his works, especially jazz music. He is not shy about colors and so his paintings will always celebrate them, and he has always been inspired by colors that convey different moods. He thinks art is something you express through your work it is not something you always talk about it. He only asks the viewers to try to identify with the colors and shapes to get a sense of harmony.

        He believes Art is a medium best suited as a form of expression represented by one’s work and his interest in traditional Ethiopian and African textiles clothes has been integrated into various ways into his paintings to create visual experimentation that also incorporates sounds, textures, and rhythms of jazz, for him, the challenge is to capture the sound of Music!

       He's motivated by colors and his process involves a lot of experimentation by using Embroideries-Brushes and various types of tools. He began the weaving technique paintings 40 years ago and he is constantly finding new and exciting variations, definitions of what Embroidery is about, and what could be done with it, and contrasting in colors, pattern, and texture, these two media explore a craft process that allows him for the endless compositional color of images. He enjoys his playful approach to pattern and color exploration and his work is a combination of mixed media; Acrylic paint and textiles, He uses the traditional technique of hand-weaving ideas to create a painting and after many years of research, he developed a new unique technique incorporated within his work, which resulted in abstract forms to depict in a new style of abstract painting that you have never seen before!

        He likes the use of bold colors to express emotion and compositional strength in his paintings. He is an ambitious and creative Artist, constantly looking for new tools and mediums, to explore new horizons. His works are geometrical and inviting to viewers because of his vibrant composition and colors. His work expresses movement and sounds with forms and colors to extend meanings beyond that.

        His distinctive modern, contemporary Abstract style has evolved over a fine arts career spanning over four decades. He had worked in multiple media, believing that each has its own unique capacity to give visual language and sounds to his work. Later he starts to make a careful or detailed search for information about his past, deeply into his spiritual self-searching for his own voice. If you are seeking a connection the connection can be intellectual, emotional, or spiritual.

        Al just wants you to look at abstract art with the same open mind. There is no need to know exactly what the artist is saying or what the painting is supposed to be about in order to appreciate it!                                                                                                                                                                               African Art Collector                                                                                                                         Gallery Owner                                                                                                                       Asrat Getahun    phone....703 589 7111                     

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