Wosene Worke Kosrof
Born in 1950 in the Arat Kilo district of Addis Ababa, Wosene Worke Kosrof is a contemporary American artist who has achieved international acclaim. Formally trained at the Addis Ababa School of Fine Arts, he completed a BFA with distinction in 1972. Then, as a Ford Foundation Talent Scholar, he was awarded an MFA in 1980 from Howard University in Washington, DC.
For more than four decades, Wosene (his professional name) has created a internationally recognized artistic signature in his work by being the first contemporary Ethiopian-born artist to use the script forms – fiedel – of his native Amharic as a core element in his paintings and sculptures. This recognizable ‘signature’ emerges from the way he elongates, distorts, dissects, and reassembles Amharic symbols – not as literal words – but as images that speak for themselves in a visual language accessible tointernational audiences. Jazz improvisations underlie his compositions,animating them with rhythmic movements and emboldening his masterfuluse of color.
The very nature of Wosene’s work – his visual vocabulary, his ‘mapping’ of cultures across time and place, his sensual use of form and color – testifies to the visual power and versatility of language. “I create a visible, interactive surface – like visual icons that are accessible to everyone. My paintings invite viewers to dialogue with them, to take them into their memory.” A major aspect of Wosene’s works is that they present us with a challenge to look into the art, feel its effect, and to watch what happens. He paints from a place between mastery and uncertainty – and so the viewer too can approach his work to discover meanings that emerge through interaction.
Wosene lives and has his studio in Berkeley, California.
STUDIO ARTS EXPERIENCE
1972 - present 2000 - 2001 1996
1984
COLLECTIONS
Professional studio artist: painting and sculpture
Artist-in-residence, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Sweet Briar, VA Artist-in-residence, Rockefeller Foundation, Bellagio, Italy Artist-in-residence, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Sweet Briar, VA
National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa
Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond, VA
The Newark Museum, Newark, NJ
Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY
The Crocker Museum, Sacramento, CA
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN
Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL
Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Samuel P. Harn Museum, University of FL, Gainesville Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana Fleming Museum, Burlington, VT
U.S. Embassy, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Völkerkunde Museum, Zürich, Switzerland Peter Gray Museum, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico United Nations, New York, NY
Rockefeller Collection, New York, NY Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Zora Neale Hurston Museum, Orlando, FL City of Addis Ababa Museum, Ethiopia
Bank of Hanover, Hanover, NH
Alza Corporation, Mountain View, CA
Tobias Management LLC, New York, NY Highland Hospital, Oakland, CA
University of CA Medical Center, Davis, CA Chikamori Hospital, Kochi, Japan
Howard University, Washington, DC
Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, MD
Paul Herzog and Jolene Tritt Collection, Burlington, VT * and many international private collections
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2022 Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2021 Edward Cella Art and Architecture, Los Angeles, CA
2021 Paul Mahder Gallery, Healdsburg, CA
2020 Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2020 Skoto Gallery, New York, NY
2019 Paul Mahder Gallery, Healdsburg, CA
2017-2018 Keith Haring Museum of Japan, Kobuchizawa, Japan Paul Mahder Gallery, Healdsburg, CA
2016 Skoto Gallery, New York, NY
2015 Gallery of Fine Art (GAFRA), London, UK
Hoshigaoka Gallery, Kochi, Japan
2014 The Loft Galeria, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Majlis Gallery, Dubai, UAE
Terra Firma Gallery, Sonoma, CA 2013 Gallery of African Art, London, UK
2012 Skoto Gallery, New York, NY Hoshigaoka Gallery, Kochi, Japan
2011 Fleming Museum, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT (Exhibition from the collection of Paul Herzog and Jolene Tritt)
Bekris Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2010 National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa
(Exhibition of paintings and sculptures) 2009 Skoto Gallery, New York, NY
Madelyn Jordon Fine Arts, Scarsdale, NY 2008 Stella Jones Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Contemporary African Arts, New York, NY 2007 Addis Art, Los Angeles, CA
Guilford College Gallery of Art, Greensboro, NC 2006 Mexican Heritage Museum, San Jose, CA
Skoto Gallery, New York, NY
2005 St. George Gallery, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
2004 The Newark Museum, Newark, NJ Skoto Gallery, New York, NY
Hoshigaoka Gallery, Kochi, Japan
2003 Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY
Galeria Botello, San Juan, PR 2002 Skoto Gallery, New York, NY
Hoshigaoka Gallery, Kochi, Japan
Museum of Antigua/Barbuda, St. Johns, Antigua, West Indies 2001 Bomani Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Folkens Museum, Etnografiska, Stockholm, Sweden 2000 Parish Gallery, Washington, DC
1999 Spirits in Stone Gallery, Sausalito, CA 1997 Hoshigaoka Gallery, Kochi, Japan
1996 St. George Gallery, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 1995 Bomani Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1994 Parish Gallery, Washington, DC
1993 Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 1991 Woodstock Gallery, Woodstock, VT 1990 Cottonbrook Gallery, Stowe, VT
1988 The World Bank, Washington, DC
AVA Gallery, Hanover, VT
1987 Howard University Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
1986 United Nations, New York, NY
1984 Albert Gordon Art Gallery, New York, NY
1980 Howard University Gallery of Art, Washington, DC 1974 Belvedere Gallery, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
SELECTED TWO-PERSON AND GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023-2024 Walters Art Museum, Ethiopia at the Crossroads, Baltimore, MD
2022-2023 Abstraction 21C Longview Museum of Fine Arts, Longview, TX
2022 Abstraction 21C San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo, TX
2022 Abstraction 21C, Arts Fort Worth, Fort Worth, TX
2022 Intersect Art Fair, Palm Springs, CA
2021 Abstraction 21C, Coos Art Museum, Coos Bay, OR
2021 Abstraction 21C, Lesley Riddle-Tree Museum, Westmont, Montecito, CA
2021 Intersect Art Fair, Aspen, CO
2020 The de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
2018 154 Fair, London
2018 Modern Museum, Stockholm Sweden
2018 Art Dubai, Dubai, UAE
2016 Kennedy Museum of Art, Ohio University, Athens, OH 2015 Hood Museum, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Paul Mahder Gallery, Healdsburg, CA
2014 Sharjah Art Museum Calligraphy Biennial, Sharjah, UAE
2013 Cantor Museum, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA i.d.e.a Museum, Mesa, AZ
2011 Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA 2009 Newark Museum, Newark, NJ
Fowler Museum, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Loft Galeria, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
2007 Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC
Fowler Museum, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 2006 Parish Gallery, Washington, DC
Pan American Art Gallery, Dallas, TX 2005 Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY
Austin Museum of Art, Austin, TX
2004 Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
2003 Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC 1999 Bomani Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1998 Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, FL
1997 Wright Gallery, New York, NY
1996 Malmo Konsthall, Malmo, Sweden 1995 Whitechapel Gallery, London, England
Zora Neale Hurston Museum, Orlando, FL 1994 Euphrat Museum, Cupertino, CA
1993 Contemporary African Art, New York, NY
1992 Crocker Museum, Annual juried exhibition, Sacramento, CA
John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, CA
1991 Zweigmuseum Schloss Oettingen, Oettingen, Germany
1990 Fleming Museum, Burlington, VT 1988 Gallery 2, Woodstock, VT
University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, MD 1987 Bernson Gallery, Ashland, NH
1986 Wood Art Gallery, Montpelier, VT 1985 Stamford Art, Stamford, CT
Gallery 401, Providence, RI
1984 Meridian House, Washington, DC 1982 Pelington Gallery, Columbus, OH
1981 Franz Bader, Washington, DC Commonwealth Institute, London, England
1980 Haitian Museum, Port-au-Prince, Haiti Elan Gallery, Bethesda, MD
1978 Gallery Paa Ya Paa, Nairobi, Kenya
1977 City Hall, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
1976 Organization of African Unity, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 1975 Hall de L’Information, Menelik, Afar & Isas, Djibouti
French Cultural Institute, Nairobi, Kenya 1973 Union Carbide Hall, New York, NY
1972 Africa Creates ’72, New York, NY
SELECTED EXHIBITION REVIEWS IN:
The New York Times Washington Post
San Francisco Chronicle Winston-Salem Journal Philadelphia Tribune San Jose Mercury News African Arts
ArtWeek Magazine
SELECTED GUEST LECTURES/WORKSHOPS
2018 Georgia College and State University, Milledgeville, GA
2017 Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond, VA 2016 Ohio University, Athens, OH
2013 College of the Coast, Puerto Vallarta, MX 2012 Butte College, Chico, CA
Wharton School Alumni Association, San Francisco, CA 2011 UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
2010 School of Art and Design, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia 2009 UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
2007 Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI
Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA Guilford College Art Gallery, Greensboro, NC
2006 San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA 2005 Columbia College, Chicago, IL
UNESCO Symposium on Art Education, Newark, NJ 2004 Painting used as poster for Biennial Poetry Festival, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Hillsborough, NJ
The Newark Museum, Newark, NJ Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA Clark University, Worcester, MA
2003 Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY
2001 Folkens Museum Etnografiska, Stockholm, Sweden 1999 Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN
1996 Rockefeller Foundation, Bellagio, Italy
1995 Alliance Francaise, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
1993 Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 1992 Crocker Museum, Sacramento, CA 1991 Mendocino Arts Center, Mendocino, CA
CA College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA
1987 African Studies Association Conference, Denver, CO
1986 Vermont College, Montpelier, VT 1985 Goddard College, Plainfield, VT 1984 Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 1982 Howard University, Washington, DC
EDUCATION
1980 MFA, painting and drawing, Howard University, Washington, DC; Ford Foundation Talent Scholar
1972 BFA, painting, drawing, design, School of Fine Arts, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Graduated with distinction