Amoako Boafo

Amoako Boafo
Portrait of Amoako Boafo
Born
Thomas Amoako Boafo

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

Thomas Amoako Boafo, known as Amoako Boafo (born 10 May 1984), was born and raised in Osu, in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana.[1]

Early life and education

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.[2][3]

While attending grad school in Vienna, Boafo received comments that his figures were "too black". Unfazed by the negativity thrown at him, Boafo continued his portraiture of Black community.[4]

Career

Boafo's portraits focus on posture, clothing, and the depiction of skin which he accentuates with the finger painting technique.[5][6] According to gallerist Ibrahim, Boafo's paintings represent a leap forward in portraiture, stating that he changed and innovated the way portraiture is done. Ibrahim specializes in representing African diaspora art.[4]

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 Triptych, 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 Arts Museum Houston[11] and later traveled to the Denver Art Museum[12] in 2023.

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, Hirshhorn 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.[13][14][15]

Exhibitions

Group exhibitions

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

Solo exhibitions

Recognition

  • 2017 – Jury prize, Walter Koschatzky Art Prize[16][17]
  • 2019 – STRABAG Art award International[18]

Art market

Boafo is represented by Mariane Ibrahim Gallery in Chicago and Roberts Projects in Los Angeles.[19] In 2021, his Hands Up (2018) sold for HKD 26.7 million ($3.4 million) at Christie's in Hong Kong.[20]

References

  1. ↑ "Amoako Boafo". Africa Boku Talent. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
  2. ↑ Barnes, Ekow (5 August 2020). "Amoako Boafo is nuancing how Black men are represented in painting". i-D. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  3. ↑ Trembley, Nicholas (22 February 2021). "Rencontre avec Amoako Boafo, la nouvelle révélation de l'art". [[true999] ]] (in French). Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  4. 1 2 ""Amoako Boafo on Slowing down and Staying Focused While His Auction Prices Skyrocket." 2020. The New York Observer, n."{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  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. ↑ "Amoako Boafo | Denver Art Museum". www.denverartmuseum.org. 8 October 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ "Hirshhorn Announces Over 80 Acquisitions by 48 Modern and Contemporary Artists". Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden | Smithsonian. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  16. ↑ "Amoako Boafo Cobalt Blue Earring – MB Arts & Culture". Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  17. ↑ 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.
  18. ↑ "Amoako Boafo Receives the 2019 STRABAG Artaward International - News - Roberts Projects LA". www.robertsprojectsla.com. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  19. ↑ Claire Selvin (November 13, 2019), Megacollecting Rubells Anoint Rising Star Amoako Boafo with Residency, Show in New Miami Museum ARTnews.
  20. ↑ 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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