Details
Dawit Abebe (b. 1978)
X Privacy 1
signed and dated 'Dawit ABEBE 2004' (lower left)
oil, ink and graphite on paper collage on paper
55 x 3938in. (140 x 100cm.)
Executed in 2011
Provenance
Kristin Hjellegjerde, London.
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2014.
Exhibited
London, Kristin Hjellegjerde, Dawit Abebe / Faig Ahmed / Phoebe Boswell, Trade Roots, 2014.
London, Saatchi Gallery, Pangaea II: New Art From Africa And Latin America, 2015 (illustrated in colour, p. 14).
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Lot Essay

Included in the Saatchi Gallery's exhibition Pangaea II: New Art from Africa and Latin America in 2015, X Privacy 1 is the first in a series of evocative works in which Dawit Abebe examines issues of power, alongside themes of individual and collective freedom. In this large-scale work on paper, the artist depicts a man cowering on the ground, observed by a larger figure towering over him brandishing a document. The unsettling nature of the scene is heightened by the closed circuit TV camera that hangs from the ceiling, observing everything. This tension that is inherent in Abebe’s work reflects his observation of technological dystopias around the world and the injustices that they can foster. Throughout his oeuvre, the artist examines the intersection of traditional societies, modernity and technology, and how the impact globalization can effect individual and collective identities. Born in Ethiopia, Abebe has participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions in Africa, Europe, and the United States, and his work can be found in several important private and public collections worldwide.

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