Ficre Ghebreyesus

Ficre Ghebreyesus (March 21, 1962 – April 4, 2012) was an Eritrean-American artist who made colorful paintings in a series of styles including representational, abstract, and a surreal combination of the two. His paintings show influences of European and American art as well as the culture and scenery of his native country. Many are small works; others as much as mural-sized. One critic saw his work as "dynamic, complicated and textually rich." The critic added that the paintings, "form at the nexus of culture, history and memory, sprawling across the canvas, and flowing out into this and other worlds." Ghebreyesus showed infrequently in commercial galleries and his work achieved widespread recognition only after its appearance in posthumous exhibitions.