EXHIBITION REVIEW

“HOMECOMING”- Ghanaian expatriate artists' exhibition
Nov 5th –Dec 5th 2009; The Artists Alliance Gallery, La, Accra.
By Dr. Nii Bonney Andrews

The exhibition catalogue states that the “exodus” of Ghanaians in the 70’s and 80’s has resulted in another art genre from the Ghanaian expatriate artists.

But what exactly constitutes this genre? Is it any different from the contemporary art produced by those Ghanaian artists that did not travel? Indeed are there ANY Ghanaian artists that have NOT traveled?

The exhibition consisted of works by seven artists- El Anatsui, Owusu Ankomah, Kate Badoe, Eva Campbell, George Hughes, J. C. Sarpong and Tafa Fiadzigbe.

Only Anatsui lives in Africa - in Nigeria; of the rest only Ankomah lives outside North America, he lives in Germany. All of them, except Ankomah, earned their under graduate degree from KNUST College of Art.

The installation located on the first floor of the gallery building was divided into three separate areas. The first area, which was the largest, had displayed on the wall directly opposite the entrance one of the large bottle top and wire cloths (“Over decorated General”) of Anatsui that are currently the rage on the international art circuit.

This is the first time one of these masterpieces has been displayed in Ghana- it is absolutely stunning in its monumental scale and aesthetic quality; it is wicked! Every Ghanaian should see it.

On either side of this piece were four fine examples of the iconic jigsaw wooden panel sculptures from the early 90’s. They included his classics-“Mammoth Crowd” and “Unfolding the Scroll of History”.

The juxtaposition of these and the bottle top cloth clearly hinted at the former as forerunners of the later. It would have been instructive to have the panels installed so that they could open as a book or hang like a cloth- a feat that has been achieved by some curators.

Paintings by Eva Campbell were placed on the wall opposite the Anatsui pieces. They featured mainly sepia toned portraiture of women or girls in different situations. Most of the works were in watercolor and were handled with sensitivity. There were also two memorable oils depicting agrarian activities.

Within the same gallery, on an adjacent wall, were the works of Owusu Ankomah. The signature monochrome muscular silhouettes in action poses with body lettering were an interesting counterpoint to the work of Campbell.

When Ankomah’s figure laden bodies look towards a celestial object, Fosu in the exhibition catalogue suggests that it denotes “some mystic universal message destined for cosmic communication”.

Communication about the contradictions of current realities has been the message of the L’Enfant Terrible of contemporary Ghanaian art. George Hughes has since the mid-90’s carved a niche for himself as an artistic rebel.

His works are provocative multiply textured, brightly colored mixed media creations with juxtaposed elements and symbols that “blur the distinction between the familiar and the novel”

His art held no clichés as he served up poignant viewpoints on police brutality (Polease), state terror (Massacre of the Innocents, Probable Features II), feminism (Red Contention) and so called free markets (Mouse Trap).

The adjoining gallery room devoted to his work was awash with color, texture and symbolism. His themes and execution have earned him a solid rating among the post-modernists. Hughes must be considered as transvangarde.

The third gallery room featured the more subdued works of Kate Badoe. Most of the works were in ink or water color.

Badoe’s art continues the exploration and development of the “sculptural idiom” pioneered in Ghana by Kofi Bucknor. Her stylizations in “Lullaby Choir” and “Ruffled Past” are novel and noteworthy developments of the idiom.

In discussing sculpture, the oft repeated narrative has been that Africa’s grand sculptural tradition has been a hindrance to contemporary African sculptors. J. C. Sarpong takes this viewpoint head on.

In evocative pieces such as “Drummer”, “Mother Africa” and “Girls in Salon”, JC Sarpong brought a freshness to well worked themes in African sculpture. The detailing and compositional balance of his bronze work rivals the quality of some of the best traditional/classic pieces that are now part of the universal canon.

The abstractions of Tafa Fiadzigbe are firmly rooted in the modern international school. Both his choice of materials and themes are eclectic, often inviting contemplation. The merging color bands (sometimes with text) suggest a convergence of ideas that require decisive action such as “Cry me a River” or “Drum song for the Innocent”.

Unfortunately, there were several not insurmountable drawbacks to the exhibition; the gallery lighting was poor, thereby making appreciation of color, contrast and texture less than satisfactory. In some sections of the exhibition, the works were too close together. The proof reading of the catalogue text and quality of photographs need to be improved.

All told, “Homecoming” is a good exhibition that documents and showcases works of high quality by Ghanaian expatriate artists. The Artists Alliance Gallery under Prof. Glover, continues to bring fine contemporary Ghanaian art to the larger public and deserves every commendation.

Dr. Nii Bonney Andrews

The author is a neurosurgeon and Chief of Neurosurgery and Vice-President of neuroGHANA.