Ethiopian artist Dereje Demissie is a graduate of Addis Ababa University Alle School of Art and Design specializing in mural art. He returned to Alle to specialize in painting and graduated in 2012. He has internationally exhibited his paintings in both solo and group exhibitions. Employing a brilliant spectrum of vivid color, Demissie’s compositions are bold and formally striking.His painting is greatly inspired by memories of growing up in Gullele, a suburb of Addis Ababa that was once renowned for its abundant flora and fauna.
Demissie considers the changes that urbanization and government intervention, among other factors, have brought to his childhood home. Captivated by the relationship between humans and nature, Demisse argues that in much the same way that humans shape their environments, they are influenced by their surroundings. Demissie’s richly colorful paintings are reflections on the geography and culture of his homeland.