Born in 1941 in Addis Ababa. Zerihun Yetmgeta studied at the Alle School of Fine Art and Design from 1963 to 1968. He shared a studio with Skunder Boghossian, who was also his teacher and a big influence on his practice. He went on to teach at the academy from 1978. Unlike many artists he didn’t want to leave his country and chose to stay in Addis during the Derg regime. The regime had a huge impact on the flowering Ethiopian art scene. Subject matters were censored, and artists were forced to work in the social realist style in favour with communist regimes around the globe.

Zerihun’s practice revolves around the preservation of Ethiopian tradition and culture. A concurrent thread and a big inspiration for his creative output is Ethiopian Orthodox Art. The abundant manuscripts and mural paintings created and kept throughout the country offered a wealth of visual and cultural inspirations for the artist. So much so that his studio follows the floor plan of an Ethiopian Church. As with Skunder Boghossian traditional Ethiopian magic scrolls hold a huge fascination for him. These scrolls are a traditional antidote used to ward off evil spirits and ensure protection against demons. Their intricate and geometric iconography and the beautiful colourful illuminations offer a wealth of visual inspiration. His art is heavily infused with symbolism, ancient superstitions, and taboos as well as religious symbols and iconography.  It is not just the Ethiopian orthodox culture that fascinates Zerihun, the pre-Aksumite Sabaean culture in the North of Ethiopia was another source of inspiration, particularly the ancient traditions surrounding the worship of the Moon god. In Zerihun’s work you can find symbols such as the moon, sun and Ibis, the male sun god.

In the current painting, the moon plays a central role. In the centre left of the painting the bright yellow full moon shines against a vibrant blue backdrop. Behind it can be seen part of a darker disc as if it is the shadow of the moon. In the centre of the picture a dark figure holds a crescent in his hand. The figure is covered in patterns that seem to glow from within the painting. Their bright eyes behind a mask-like face look almost supernatural. The crescent is a symbol for the moon in ancient Sabaen tradition. With this work Zerihun seems to be referring to the total lunar eclipse that happened on 25 May 1975. It was a Central Lunar Eclipse in which part of the moon passes through the Earth’s shadow. This type of eclipse appears darker and they are relatively rare. It is likely that Zerihun is using the eclipse as a metaphor to what is happening to his country at the time. The brutal Derg regime, which had come into power in 1974, had plunged Ethiopia into darkness; darkness which would hopefully like an eclipse be temporary. We can see a black bird flying away in the right top corner. Birds make frequent appearances in Zerihun’s work and in this painting it most likely signifies protection and peace.

The painting was painted in 1975, soon after the Derg had overthrown Haile Sellasie and his government and had taken over the country with their socialist regime. Many artists had left as they faced stringent restrictions and art was only to be made as propaganda in the social realist style. Zerihun defiantly stayed behind and continued working as an artist. Zerihun in his own words on the painting “Life on Jupiter” another work he painted in 1975: It shows the tension and struggle under which everyone was living. When I painted this, the situation in Ethiopia was unbearable. I was imagining what life would be like on another planet. Zerihun kept a low profile and continued working without making much fanfare, and frequently used ambiguous titles and managed to stay on his own course, despite the oppressive artistic restrictions on artistic practice. His paintings are known to have hidden meanings, and once one considers the socio-political conditions of the time and the traditions of Ethiopian image-making that underly them, it is possible to read the symbols that Zerihun’s paintings contain in order to discern their meaning.