2018
Hana Yilma Godine
A Hair Salon in Addis Ababa
January 22 – March 5, 2022
A two-venue exhibition at Fridman Gallery and Rachel Uffner Gallery
169 BOWERY | NEW YORK, NY
170 SUFFOLK ST | NEW YORK, NY

Hana Yilma Godine, Hair salon in Addis Ababa #3, 2021, Fabric and oil on canvas, 60h x 80w in
Fridman Gallery and Rachel Uffner Gallery are honored to announce A Hair Salon in Addis Ababa, a solo exhibition by Ethiopian painter Hana Yilma Godine spanning the two galleries.
Each gallery will present Godine’s new paintings portraying female protagonists in domestic and public spaces of their own making, drawing on everyday scenes of her home town of Addis Ababa: preparing for wedding celebrations, interacting in hair salons, resting in their living rooms. In a patriarchal society torn apart by a brutal civil war, Godine presents a parallel dimension where women are safe from violence and free to express themselves independently of social restrictions.
Godine’s use of flattened perspective, elongated figures and evenly distributed light recalls Ethiopian iconography which underscores the divinity of biblical subjects by rejecting the rules of earthly representation. On the other hand, Godine’s artworks are firmly grounded in reality – she paints on traditional fabrics which women buy at the local market and turn into affordable dresses. She weaves her brushstrokes with the fabric print, at times leaving the flowery patterns untouched, at times letting them faintly show through the painted layers.
Combining traditional materials with bold compositions and color schemes, the paintings appear to time-travel, offering a futuristic worldview based in spirit, community, care, and hope.
I think about painting as a space that mediates time and place, reconciling the past, present, and future into one unified form. Figures are central to my compositions. Their colorful, transparent, and collaged surfaces suggest embedded histories and embodied feelings. My practice has long focused on women–their bodies, as well as their social and societal roles. I work symbolically to communicate the complexity of their lives and see them as a source of life within my paintings.
Hana Yilma Godine received an MFA from Boston University in 2020, having previously studied at the Abyssinia School of Fine Art and Design, and the Ale School of Fine Art in Addis Ababa. Godine’s first U.S. solo exhibition, Spaces within Space, took place at Fridman Gallery in the Fall of 2020, followed by her first institutional exhibition at the National Museum of Ethiopia in the Spring of 2021. Godine lives and works in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Following the opening of A Hair Salon in Addis Ababa, she will spend three months at Fridman Gallery’s newly launched artist residency in Beacon, NY.
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PRESS
Hana Yilma Godine’s Paintings Depict Ethiopian Traditions with Modern Style and Flair
by Taylor Michael
Hyperallergic
March 3, 2022
Hana Yilma Godine Imagines Scenes of Transcendent Repose
by Ryan Wadduops
Surface
February 23, 2022
A New Art Show Looks at the Role of Women in Ethiopia
by Kerry Nolan
wnyc
February 3, 2022
By Julia Halperin
artnet news
February 1, 2022
Your Concise New York Art Guide for January 2022
By Cassie Packard
Hyperallergic
January 2, 2022
Must See: "Hair Salon in Addis Ababa" at Fridman Gallery
ARTFORUM
January 27, 2022







Hana Yilma Godine, Hair salon in Addis Ababa #2, 2021, Fabric and oil on canvas, 60h x 80w in

Hana Yilma Godine, Still life painting, 2021, Fabric and oil, 50h x 50w in

Hana Yilma Godine, A Chemistry of Time and Materials, 2020, Oil, acrylic, thread, fabric, and wood, 83h x 96w in

Hana Yilma Godine, Substance in Space #1, 2021, Fabric and oil, 85h x 50w in

Hana Yilma Godine, Beyond the sky #2, 2021, Wood, fabric, thread, and oil, 50h x 70w in