Amoako Boafo

Thomas Amoako Boafo, known as Amoako Boafo (born 10 May 1984), is a Ghanaian painter and visual artist.[1][2]

Amoako Boafo
Portrait of Amoako Boafo
Born
Thomas Amoako Boafo

(1984-05-10) 10 May 1984
Osu Accra, Ghana
NationalityGhanaian
EducationGhanatta College of Art and Design; Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
Known forVisual art, painter

Early life and education

Boafo was born and raised in Osu, in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. He attended the Ghanatta College of Art and Design in Accra, and later continued his education at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in Austria.[3][4]

Career

Boafo's portraits focus on posture, clothing, and the stroke of skin which he accentuates with the finger painting technique.[5][6]

In 2019, Boafo participated in a residency at the new Rubell Museum in Miami, Florida, and in 2020 collaborated with Dior for their Spring/Summer 2021 Men Collection.[7][8][9]

His work Suborbital Tryptych, consisting of three portraits of himself, his mother, and a friend's mother, was printed on the top of the crew capsule of a New Shepard rocket that performed an unmanned suborbital launch on August 26, 2021, reaching outer space with an apogee of 106 km.[10] On 26 May 2022, his debut U.S. exhibit, Soul of Black Folks, opened at Contemporary Art Museum Houston.[11]

Collections
Sitting on the sun by Amoako Boafo shown at Colección Solo museum in Madrid (Spain).
Sitting on the sun by Amoako Boafo shown at Colección Solo museum in Madrid (Spain).

Boafo's work is in private and public collections, most recently in the Blenheim Art Foundation, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Rubell Museum, Marieluise Hessel Collection, the Aishti Foundation, the CCS Bard College Hessel Museum of Art, the Pizzuti Collection of Columbus Museum of Art, Colección Solo and the Albertina Museum in Vienna.[12][13]

Exhibitions

Group exhibitions:

  • 2022. Certeza. Espacio SOLO - Colección SOLO (Madrid, Spain). On show Sitting on the Sun (2019).

Recognition
  • 2017 – Jury prize, Walter Koschatzky Art Prize[14][15]
  • 2019 – STRABAG Art award International[16]

Art market

Boafo is represented by Mariane Ibrahim Gallery in Chicago and Roberts Projects in Los Angeles.[17] In 2021, his Hands Up (2018) sold for HKD 26.7 million ($3.4 million) at Christie's in Hong Kong.[18]

References
  1. Kissick, Dean (29 January 2021). "Figurative painter Amoako Boafo on his stratospheric rise". GQ. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  2. Valentine, Victoria L. (4 October 2020). "New Now: Amoako Boafo and Titus Kaphar Top Phillips Emerging Artist Auction, Firelei Báez and Marcus Jahmal Among Record Setters". Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  3. Barnes, Ekow (5 August 2020). "Amoako Boafo is nuancing how Black men are represented in painting". i-D. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  4. Trembley, Nicholas (22 February 2021). "Rencontre avec Amoako Boafo, la nouvelle révélation de l'art". Numéro (in French). Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  5. Van Houten Maldonado, Devon (8 October 2020). "Amoako Boafo's Paintings Stare Back at You". frieze. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  6. Lang, Cady (17 February 2021). "2021 Time100 Next: Amoako Boafo". Time. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  7. Marain, Alexandre (23 February 2021). "Dior infuses Amoako Boafo's paintings into its collection". Vogue Paris. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  8. Wightman-Stone, Danielle (14 July 2020). "Dior Men collaborates with Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo". FashionUnited. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  9. Waddoups, Ryan (16 July 2020). "The Story Behind Amoako Boafo's Deeply Personal Collection With Dior". Surface. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  10. "New Shepard Successfully Completes Mission with Commercial and NASA-Supported Payloads on Board". Blue Origin (Press release). 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  11. "Amoako Boafo: Soul of Black Folks". Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  12. Campbell-LaFleur, Andrianna (1 September 2020). "Amoako Boafo on His Incredible Portraits: 'I Paint to Show What I Am'". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  13. Binlot, Ann (3 June 2020). "'When I look at you, do you see me?' Painter Amoako Boafo urges us to consider the complexities of blackness". Document Journal. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  14. "Amoako Boafo Cobalt Blue Earring – MB Arts & Culture". Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  15. Pendiuk, Patrick (16 February 2021). "Amoako Boafo für Dior Men: 'Die Darstellung von Solidarität war nie wichtiger als jetzt'". GQ Germany (in German). Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  16. "Amoako Boafo Receives the 2019 STRABAG Artaward International - News - Roberts Projects LA". www.robertsprojectsla.com. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  17. Claire Selvin (November 13, 2019), Megacollecting Rubells Anoint Rising Star Amoako Boafo with Residency, Show in New Miami Museum ARTnews.
  18. Angelica Villa (December 2, 2021), Records for Amoako Boafo, Avery Singer, Bernard Buffet Set in Christie’s $192 M. Hong Kong Evening Sale ARTnews.
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