ATTA KWAMI
 “My work is described conventionally as âabstract.â Given that there is a very precise, knowable set of resources at the back of it, I would describe it as schematic; like a map, or rather a reaction to or interpretation of a map. It is about ownership, a way to finding myself, where I am. In that sense my work enhances a viewing of Kumasi, and Ghana where the sign painting workshops and rich textile traditions have engaged my attention. My passion lies in making⌠I have focused on colour as subject matter, perhaps taking me back to what I started with as a child; my motherâs paints and her textiles were good resources. In recent works I have pursued the use of the imaginary grid as a matrix for emotion. This structure is a smokescreen within which to create something new. Working in different places requires an ever-present preparedness to take the work wherever it demands to go. Wherever I go I take my world with me.....
The qualities I seek on my work are clarity, simplicity, intensity, subtlety, architectonic structure, musicality (rhythm and tone), wholeness and spontaneity. So many strands inevitably manifest themselves in painting: jazz, the timbre of Ghanaian music (Koo Nimo), improvisation, arrangements of merchandise and so forth. I also see corresponding aesthetic commonalities with wall paintings and music from northern Ghana, the limited range of earth colours and the pentatonic scale of the xylophone. Poetry is able to sustain the life of language through new forms of usage. In painting it is also re-interpretation, improvisation and variation that affect innovation and development.â
Atta Kwami was born in Accra, Ghana, in 1956. He grew up immersed in the artsâhis mother was a well-known visual artist and art educator, his father a musician. He studied painting with Ato Delaquis at the College of Art at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). After completing his first degree he spent several years in southeast Nigeria teaching art before returning to Ghana to assume a position as Lecturer in painting and printmaking at the College of Art, KNUST.
Until recently, he served on the faculty of the College of Art at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi. Today he is an independent artist, maintaining studios in Ghana and England and exhibiting extensively worldwide.
Kwami's paintings are held in major public collections including the National Museums of Ghana and Kenya, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the National Museum of African Art in Washington, DC, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The British Museum. His numerous awards and recognitions include a Philip L. Ravenhill Fellowship, (UCLA) and the Smithsonian Institute, National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC (2010).
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
SOLO |
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Susuka (Clarity) Gallery CAAS, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA | 2010 | |
Fufofo (Coming Together) Howard Scott Gallery, New York | 2010 | |
Take Time Beardsmore Gallery, London (+Pamela Clarkson) | 2009 | |
Harmonium Howard Scott Gallery, New York, USA Small Small Oriel 6 & 7, Llandudno, Wales | 2008 | |
Amadede Exhibition The Open Univesity Library, Milton Keynes | 2007 | |
2Schoner Wohnen: Eilfried Huth Landesmuseum Joanneum/Kunstlerhaus Graz, Austria | 2006 | |
Atta Kwami, Nicolas Krupp Contemporary Art Gallery, Basel | 2005 | |
Nicolas Krupp Contemporary Art Gallery, Basel | 2002 | |
Atta Kwami Kunsthalle, Basel Kumase Blue Beardsmore Gallery, London (+ Pamela Clarkson) | 2001 | |
small small Alliance Francaise Kumasi, Ghana | 2000 | |
Geometric Organic National Museum, Accra, Ghana | 1998-99 | |
Fordsburg Artists Studios, Johannesburg, South Africa | 1997 | |
Grace Kwami Sculpture: An Artistâs Book by Atta Kwami, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK | 1996 | |
Atonsu Agogo Beardsmore Gallery, London Newtown Galleries, Johannesburg, South Africa | 1995 | |
Point of View Gallery, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, USA | 1994-95 | |
Journey Out Beardsmore Gallery, London (+Pamela Clarkson) Station Steps Castle Museum, Nottingham, England | 1993 | |
Ecology Arts Centre, Accra, Ghana | 1990 | |
Paintings Prints College of Art, Kumasi, Ghana | 1987 | |
The British Council, Enugu, Anambra State, Nigeria | 1982 | |
The British Council, Accra, Ghana | 1980 | |
New Cultural Centre, Tamale, Ghana | 1976 | |
Drawings, Paintings and Textiles Science Lecture Theatre, Mawuli School, Ho, Ghana | 1975 | |
GROUP |
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Long Long Gone Leo Koenig, New York | 2010 | |
Design Without End: The Essential Art of African Textiles, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA | 2008 | |
The Poetics of Cloth: African Textiles / Recent Art Grey Art Gallery, New York University, New York | 2008 | |
ARESUVA African Regional Summit & Exhibition on Visual Arts, Abuja, Nigeria | 2008 | |
Rotonde des Arts Conteporains (RAC) Five West African artists, Vle Biennale Internationale de la Gravure dâIle-de-France | 2008 | |
68 Graveurs Francais et dâAfrique, Orangerie de Madame Elisabeth 73 Versailles, France | 2008 | |
Draw Your Soul University of Sunderland, UK | 2008 | |
2006 To the Edge Beardsmore Gallery, London | 2006 | |
4779, with Ferdinand Penker, Galerie Eugen Lendl, Graz Chaumalieres Carrefour International de LâEstampe, Chaumalieres | 2006 | |
A Tale of Two Cities Goethe Institut/Alliance Francaise, Acccra/Kumasi | 2006 | |
CLUSTER New York: Participant Inc, New York, Espacio | 2006 | |
El Particular, Mexico City | 2006 | |
2005 Re-Configuring the Contemporary KMUST Museum, Kumasi | 2005 | |
Triennale Chaumalieres Sixieme Triennale Mondials dâEstampes Petit Format, Chaumalieres Auvergne, France | 2003 | |
Nicolas Krupp at Artissima, Torino | 2002 | |
Kumasi Junction Oriel Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno, Wales | 2002 | |
Ten, Beardsmore Gallery, London | 2002 | |
Triangle Workshop 2000, 92nd floor World Trade Centre, New York, USA | 2000 | |
A Slice of Contemporary African Art Galleri B:FORS, Stockholm, | 2000 | |
South Meets West Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland | 2000 | |
South Meets West National Museum, Accra, Ghana | 1999 | |
A Step in Africa National Museum of Kenya, Nairobi | 1999 | |
An Exhibit of Contemporary African Art Earthhues, WorldSpace, Wash DC, USA | 1998 | |
Alternating Currents 2nd Johannesburg Biennale | 1997 | |
Print Collection College of Art Gallery, KNUST, Kumasi | 1996 | |
A Collaboration and Exchange Ghana & Humboldt County, Eureka, California, USA | 1996 | |
Volatile Alliances Africus Johannesburg Biennale, South Africa | 1995 | |
Tenqâ St Louis, Senegal | 1994 | |
Royal College of Art Printmaking Portfolio 1993 Angela Flowers Gallery, London | 1993 | |
The Artist as Social Commentator Goethe Institut, Accra | 1989 | |
Mother and Son National Museum of Ghana, Accra | 1986 |
SELECTED CURATORIAL PROJECTS
Ainaesthetic, Recent Works of Ayo Aina - Maison de France, Lagos (Solo) | 2003 | |
10 @ 2000, an Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture- Alliance Francaise, Kaduna | 2000 | |
Uncovering the Tracks, Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture - Crystal Palace Hotel, Abuja | 2000 | |
Revue Noire, an Exhibition of Contemporary African Art- French Cultural Centre, Ikoyi, Lagos | 1999 | |
Le Sanctuaire, an Exhibition of Drawings, Painting, Sculptures and Ceramics - Maraba Pottery, Kaduna | 1996 | |
Different Strokes I, an Exhibition of Paintings and Sculptures of Alliance Francaise, Kaduna (A Three-Man-Show) | 1994 |
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
National Museum of Ghana | ||
The Hope and Optimism Portfolio, Heynitz Castle, Windhoek, Namibia | ||
Victoria and Albert Museum, London | ||
Museum of Contemporary Art, Abidjan | ||
National Museum of African Art, The Smithsonian, Washington DC | ||
National Museum of Kenya / Kuona Trust, Nairobi | ||
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. | ||
Victoria and Albert Museum, London. | ||
The British Museum, London. |
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
Philip L. Ravenhill Fellowship, (UCLA); Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C. | 2010 | |
Ghana Cultural Fund Award for the publication of Ph.D. thesis: Kumasi Realism, 1951-2007: An African Modernism. 1st Thoyer Distinguished Visiting Scholar, New York University. | 2009 | |
Artist in Residence, Howard University Art Department, Washington, D.C. | 2000 | |
Artist in Residence 2nd Lake, Naivasha International Artists Residencies, Kenya | 1999 | |
Artist in Residence Fordsburg, Artists Studios, Johannesburg, South Africa | 1997 | |
Commonwealth Foundation, Fellowship (African Region) | 1991 |