News

A studio visit from the French Consul General

March 2026 · Vancouver

I had the honour of welcoming the newly appointed French Consul General into my studio. We wandered through works in progress and finished pieces, speaking of art not only as form but as language — something that travels beyond borders, carrying emotion, history, and presence.

It was a conversation shaped by curiosity and openness, where each piece seemed to breathe a little deeper under attentive eyes. I'm deeply grateful for this visit — for the time, the exchange, and the shared belief that art continues to connect us in ways words alone cannot.

Yared Nigussu with the newly appointed French Consul General in the studio, before a large green botanical painting

Special Collection — a December exhibition

December 2024 · Vancouver

An exhibition of new work opened 5 December at 1063 Hamilton Street, Vancouver — a special collection marking the direction of the studio's newest paintings.

Poster for Yared Nigussu's Art Show, Special Collection, December 2024

Vancouver Canucks — Black History Month jersey

February 2023 · NHL

The Vancouver Canucks unveiled special-edition warm-up jerseys for Black History Month, designed by Yared. Drawing on his Ethiopian-Canadian background, he re-imagined the Canucks orca with the colours, patterns and textile designs of Ethiopia; the shoulder patches carry Genna sticks, used in traditional Ethiopian field hockey, and each player's number is rendered in Ge'ez numerals from the Amharic language.

Coverage — Global News
Vancouver Canucks player wearing the Black History Month jersey designed by Yared Nigussu
Detail of the Canucks orca logo re-imagined with Ethiopian textile patterns
Back of the Canucks jersey with Ethiopian Ge'ez numbering

In Oscar de la Hoya's collection — The Wall Street Journal

Private collection · Las Vegas

Boxing great Oscar de la Hoya acquired one of Yared's large urban canvases for his Las Vegas home — and when The Wall Street Journal featured the house, the painting appeared in its pages. Fighters have long run through Yared's work, from his fighter series to his portrait of Georges St-Pierre; a fitting room for this piece to hang in.

The feature — The Wall Street Journal
A Yared Nigussu painting in Oscar de la Hoya's Las Vegas home, as featured in The Wall Street Journal

Light & The City

November 2019 · Vancouver

A solo exhibition of urban paintings on Main Street, Vancouver. The same season, the Art Lab hosted an evening for TD Bank and its guests — wine, canapés, and art.

Light & The City — exhibition poster, Main Street, Vancouver

Recognition from the Embassy of Canada to Ethiopia

July 2017 · Canada 150

For Canada's 150th anniversary, the Embassy of Canada to Ethiopia profiled Yared — his path from Addis Ababa to galleries in Vancouver, Whistler and Victoria, and his ambition to serve as a cultural ambassador between his two countries: promoting Ethiopian artists and craftsmen, and giving them a platform to show their work locally and internationally. That spring he presented “My Canada”, a group exhibition in Victoria celebrating the anniversary.

Facebook post from the Embassy of Canada to Ethiopia profiling artist Yared Nigussu, with two portraits of him among paintings in the studio