Rushing to the net exhibition stages

By Alemayehu Seife Selassie

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - Dozens of paintings by artist Teferi Gizachew were staged at the National Theatre Gallery this week.
The artist that has spent over ten years in painting and sculpturing has presented 23 artistic paintings in the exhibition entitled “rushing to the net”.
Artist Teferi has presented his works to lots of galleries locally, as well as several exhibitions abroad. The exhibitions he has had in South Africa, Spain, and Netherlands are the ones he is reckoned with.

Artist Teferi has specialized in painting and sculpturing and he explains that he does not want to work on only one mode of art. “I do not want to limit myself from expression. If you are speaking in one language you might be able to explain something but to thoroughly explain it you might need another one” he said. however he said that financial constraints have limited him from working with the type of painting and sculpting he truly wants. The largest size of painting Teferi has done stretches just a little over two meters. But the desire that he has is to paint on a surface more than that.
“I want to paint big canvasses stretching over four meters. But I have been limited due to the money it takes to make such large paintings”, he said.

The artist prefers materials such as gypsum, mud, and iron to work with. And in his current exhibition which was premiered from June 08-June 14 of this week, he has used several themes. “Yellow September”, “rushing to the net”, “Tide”, “The Pose” and “Blue Caravan” are some of the themes he has used for his painting.

The dominating theme that has taken a large portion of the gallery is Yellow September. And the painting depicts the yellow flower (Meskel flower) that flourishes during the month of September. The artist’s favorite painting is however the one which has been the title of the exhibition “rushing to the net”. This painting shows one red spot on the middle of a stretched net where there are schools of fishes rushing towards it. The artist explains that there are lots of things that human beings rush into to get. “When you go at a thing on a mass you get at it driven by others’ desire.” He also explains the theme Tide that shows the woven thread rolls getting tangled. “We are the ones who tangle our self and others around us. The tides are a representation of that stagnation we might cause” he said.

The Blue Caravan is a painting, which shows several women who are carrying some items to the market. In this painting, all the women and their surrounding are blue. The only bright colored item is the one they carry on their back. “That is a symbolization of how “hope” is something that comes from within us, not from somewhere else but from within us.”

The prices of the paintings in the exhibition ranged from 2,000-10,000 and the artist states that his works never get stored in the studio very much. “It is not that I just want to sell the paintings, but I also want to keep the communication and interaction with art lovers. I want to narrow the gap between the viewers and I.” Teferi said.
The artist states that depending on the mood and imagination an art piece might take him from 30 minutes to over six months.
The artistic exhibition was a scene with hundreds of visitors during its time of stage.

June 15, 2007