Merikokeb Berhanu Untitled XCXI, 2025

Merikokeb Berhanu's painting Untitled XCXI features the artist's characteristic combination of abstract and representational elements. The composition includes section of different color fields, textures and pattern, some suggesting organic elements such as cellular structures or other organic life. Central to the work are the outlines of three red cows standing placidly, held perhaps in some kind of apparatus. A particular focus is on their udders: depicted schematically in contrasting colors and upside-down, they appear as if constituting a parasitical growth, a machine-like presence, or a separate gestating body inside the animal.