Etiyé Dimma Poulsen

"I reinvent 'archetypes' of 'primitive art', totems if you want, from my own processing of matter, from my memory, my vague nostalgia, my longing for a continent that I left since ages. The soil of Africa.... But my work is not just African, there are some elements from ancient Greek art (Mycenaean), prehistoric Venuses, oriental art, etc.

I always try to make primordial figures, humans in their most naked, primitive being, as tokens of some basic existential condition: loneliness, fear, desire. But most of all: being there. Being part of, Going towards, a primordial presence, a trace of human culture on the face of planet earth. Each statue is a trace, more than a portrait. That is why I like my statues together, as a group, a community, a group of totems, a forest as well. For me making is a process, a stream. It is about the joy of living, of making. Even if the joy of life is by nature fleeting and transient, art should capture it in an enduring, eternal way. I hope my statues convey a sort of solidified ecstasy."

Etiyé Dimma Poulsen

1968	Born in Ethiopia
1974	Adopted in Tanzania
1975	English school in Kenya
1982	Primary and secondary school in Denmark
1988	Art history school in Denmark
1991	Installs her workshop in France
2003	Installs her workshop and lives in Belgium

Upcoming Exhibitions

2012	Galerie Capazza, Nancay France
2011	Bekris Gallery, San Fransisco
2010	Bedington Bargemon- August Galerie Claudine Legrand Paris -11 march Galerie de l'anciennePosteToucy - 22 may Galerie Rosenhauer, Goettingen Deutschland - 2 may

Personal Exhibitions

2010	Galerie GG. Bohrer, Bonstetten Zürich
2009	Centre d'art André Malraux Colmar Musée Théodore Deck Guebwiller Gallery Christa's Fine Art, Kopenhagen Galerie Genevieve Godard, Lille Willem Elias Woluwe Galerie Strenger, Tokyo Bekris Gallery, San Fransisco
2008	Galerie Strenger, Tokyo Japan Joie Lassiter Gallery Charlotte USA Galerie Claudine Legrand, Paris Papirfabrikken Silkeborg Denmark ParlementEuropéen Charteauxd'Ardelay Les Herbiers Womanhood Hood Museum New Hampshire Worldbank Washington USA
2007	Koloniënpaleis Tervuren, Belgium UNESCO Paris Galerie D'Haudrecy-Knokke Belgium Musée Maurice Denis, Paris France Galerie Elfie Bohrer, BonstettenSwitserland Galerie Claudine Legrand Paris Wertz Contemporary Atlanta (US)
2006	Skoto Gallery, New York (US) Galerie Capazza, Nancay France Centre Culturel Scharpoord, Knokke (Belgium) Galerie Des Emibois (Switserland)
2005	Wertz contemporary gallery Atlanta (US) Gallery Knud Grothe, Charlottenlund, Denmark Gallery Marc Van Meensel, Holland Art Fair Den Haag Galerie Hamlin Honfleur , France Galerie Claudine Legrand, Paris Lineart Gent, Belgium Galerie 23, Amsterdam
2004	Museum of World Culture, Göteborg , Sweden Lille Art Fair Galerie Hamlin Galerie Genevieve Godar Lille Galerie Claudine Legrand Paris St'art 2004 Galerie Hamlin Strasbourg
2003	St'art Strasbourg Gallery Knud Grothe, Charlottenlund, Denmark Smithsonian Museum of African Art Washington (EU) Galerie des Emibois, Switserland Galerie Hamlin, Honfleur , France Galery MAM, Douala, Cameroun MOBA Gallery Brussels
2002	Alliance Française, Addis Abeba, Ethiopia Galerie Claudine Legrand, Paris
2001	Gallery MAM, Douala, Cameroun St'art 2001 Strasbourg October Gallery, London, Angleterre Artist in residence, Addis Abeba, Ethiopia Château des Carmes-La Flèche
2000	Biennale of Dakar Galerie Hamlin Honfleur , France Galerie Claudine Legrand, Paris Galerie Capazza, Nançay, France

Museums Collections

The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art (US)
Smithsonian, National Museum of African Art (US)
Hans Bogatzke , Collection of contemporary African art-Allemagne
Newark Museum New Jersey (US)
Hood Museum Hanover New Hampshire (US)
La Piscine Musée d'art Roubaix France
World bank Washington Collection
Musée Théodore Deck Guebwiller (France)

Television

2003 'double je' Bernard Pivot Trophées of the French language 'Couleurs noirs' Film of Bérengère Casanova T.V. Brussels

Film

2000	'EtiyéDimmaPoulsen'
2005	Femmes du Feu./ women of fire