Amoako Boafo

(Ghanaian, born 1984)

Self-Portrait 2019 (framed)

Footnotes

Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist, 2019;
A private collection.

In 2014, after studying at the Ghanatta College of Art and Design in Accra, Amoako Boafo won a scholarship to study at the Vienna Art Academy in Art and Design in Austria. With a body of work that is centred around figurative portraiture, Boafo's first recognition was in 2017 when he receive the Jury Prize and Walter Koschatzky Art Prize. In 2019 he would also win the STRABAG Artaward International. With a career stimulated by passion and self-motivation, given that as a child he was told he would never be able to attain and retain a career as an artist, Boafo has defied his humble beginnings. He has beaten the odds to become one of the most successful and exciting contemporary artists today.

Painted in 2019, the present work may have acted as a precursor to his major exhibition I STAND BY ME at Chicago's Mariane Ibrahim Gallery in 2021. The title of the exhibition reflects the artists observation of individuality and one's role in society, to define how one sees themselves. Speaking on his self-portraiture:

'Before I actually painted myself a lot, because I had to be okay with myself and how I portrayed myself for others to kind of understand my work. And so what I will look at is facial expressions, how celebratory they are, the self-confidence right? Then I will look at ... I mean, that's also another angle: that whatever the person is doing in society, how they are creating spaces.' ('Amoako Boafo gets online with Idris Elba', Christian Dior, (extract from a YouTube interview, 17 July 2020) 4:38-5:10).

The present work possesses the artist's iconic finger painting technique, a motif he associates with freedom and an embrace of the natural state of lack of control. By eliminating a tool between himself and the art he creates, Boafo defines himself as a sculptor, rendering his subjects directly from his hand. Famous also for his lively and bold palette, the colour yellow is also significant in the colour's association with optimism and celebration.

The intimate crop of the work characterises this self-portrait as unusual in the artist's oeuvre. Given he commonly works with oversized canvases and compositions that allow us to see more of the figure's body, it could be said, that the smaller and closer scale position the artist places us in in relation to the subject, enables an intimate view of the artist.

In some instances, Boafo has been compared to Egon Schiele, a label which the artist welcomes:

'I enjoy bringing Black portraiture to Europe. I am interested in creating work that incorporates multicultural elements rooted in my experiences in both Europe and Africa, including Egon Schiele. (Amoako Boafo in conversation with Dean Kissick, 'Figurative painter Amoako Boafo on his stratospheric rise', GQ Magazine, (29 January 2021, online).

As he exclusively portrays people from the Diaspora and beyond, Boafo celebrates his community whilst also reflecting on the complexities of subjectivity. Challenging the historic representation of people from the Diaspora, Boafo aims to create a fresh narrative on the reality of his community's identity.