Boafo’s sculptural, collage-like paintings present a contemporary image of Black self-empowerment and self-perception
This volume accompanies the first museum exhibition in Europe for the Ghanian painter Amoako Boafo (born 1984), who is widely considered to be one of the most important voices from a new generation of Black artists. After graduating from art college in Accra, Boafo began studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna in 2013, where he developed his signature style characterized by his unusual finger-painting technique. Applied to the human body, this creates a sculptural effect that contrasts with the flatness of the rest of the painting. The people portrayed by Boafo—friends, acquaintances and public figures—embody the idea of Black identity that draws on its own culture, to be understood as an act of resistance against the racist labels of a predominantly white society. This form of Black subjectivity is expressed in the appearance of the sitters, who confront the viewer as self-confident individuals and often seek direct eye contact. The artist’s intensive engagement with Black history is subtly reflected in his paintings that include motifs inspired by literary works by key pioneers of the Black Freedom Movement.