Esiri Erheriene-Essi
I’m a person who reacts to an image and uses that to take it somewhere else.
Esiri Erheriene-Essi bases her mixed media paintings on archival documentation that often depict the lives of black families in the 1950s - ‘80s, showing them in vibrant technicolor where old film cartridges failed to do so.
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Esiri Erheriene-EssiAggressive Politeness (For Emory), 2015oil, ink and xerox transfer on canvas200 x 190 cm
78 3/4 x 74 3/4 in -
Esiri Erheriene-EssiMolly, You in Danger, Girl, 2013oil and indian ink on canvas200 x 180 cm
78 3/4 x 70 7/8 in -
Esiri Erheriene-EssiCabbage Soup Diet (Woo Hoo), 2011oil on linen155 x 200 cm
61 1/8 x 78 3/4 in -
Esiri Erheriene-EssiMetabolism Booster Diet, 2010oil on canvas210 x 180 cm
82 5/8 x 70 7/8 in -
Esiri Erheriene-EssiMexican Standoff, 2010oil on canvas145 x 175 cm
57 1/8 x 68 7/8 in -
Esiri Erheriene-EssiCtrl+alt+delete, 2009oil on canvas240 x 200 cm
94 1/2 x 78 3/4 in -
Esiri Erheriene-EssiEloquence Doesn't Always Come with a Pretty Face, 2009acrylic and oil on canvas240 x 200 cm
94 1/2 x 78 3/4 in
History is not just something from the past. It’s in all of us, it’s in our names and our language and the way we look at things, in the way we look at the world and understand it.
Esiri Erheriene-Essi, is an Amsterdam based artist, born in London from Nigerian parents. Inspired by artists such as Kerry James Marshall, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Lucian Freud, Alice Neel and Jean-Michel Basquiat, she creates colourful mid to large-scale figurative paintings portraying family and friends in everyday situations, incorporating familial and historical backgrounds as well as personal experiences.
An important part of her work process consists of collecting photographs, fabrics and other archival documentation relating to the African diaspora to incorporate into her artworks. Starting from a found, vintage photograph, she then edits it in photoshop and makes a sketch with acrylic...
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I want to bring these people back into technicolor
WeTransfer 9.4.2020The way that Esiri Erheriene-Essi talks about images is very intense. They’ve always been prevalent in her life, whether she was using old family photographs...Read more -
A Most Present Future
Juxtapoz Art & Culture 5.3.2020By Sasha Bogojev It’s impossible to feel indifferent to the tasty work of London-born and Amsterdam-based painter Esiri Erheriene-Essi. And I specifically say, 'tasty,' because...Read more -
Indian summer
De Groene Amsterdammer 30.10.2019By Roos van der Lint De kunstenaars die genomineerd zijn voor de Prix de Rome 2019 zijn niet anders te omschrijven dan als genereus: met...Read more -
Studio Time: Esiri Erheriene-Essi Prepares for the Prix de Rome
Juxtapoz Arts & Culture 22.10.2019By Sasha Bogojev Esiri Erheriene-Essi , the Amsterdam-based artist whose work we fell in love after a viewing at Galerie Ron Mandos almost two years...Read more