See works in Accra from 25 Ghanaian and African diaspora artists that explore African mythology to reimagine worlds beyond the human.
‘Constellations Part 2: Figures in Webs and Ripples of Space’ is the second instalment of an
exhibition by contemporary art space Gallery 1957 at Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast and
Galleria Mall. The exhibition runs until 10 October.
The artists' work connect and rupture relations through a constellation of machines, plants,
religious or mythical objects, memorabilia, and all forms of objects that connect and
estrange us.
Artists are: Clifford Bright Abu, Abdul-Salam Alhassan, Akosua Odeibea Amoah-Yeboah,
Dela Anyah, Dzidzor Azaglo, Elolo Bosoka, Jasper Dafeamekpor, Rosemary Esinam Damalie,
Victor Ehikhamenor, Samuel Baah Kortey, Rebekka Macht, Afrane Makof, Putin Ofori,
Frederick Ebenezer Okai, Na Chainkua Reindorf, Ghizlane Sahli, Nyahan Tachie-Menson, Jonathan Okoronkwo.
Also part of the roll call are: Lois Selasie Arde-Acquah, Phoebe Boswell, Adelaide Damoah,
Denyse Gawu-Mensah, Henry Hussey, Sarah Meyohas, and Lisa C Soto, who were part of
the first installation in London, ‘Constellations Part 1: Figures on Earth & Beyond’.
Here's a snapshot of some of what these artists are exhibiting:
Lois Selasie Arde-Acquah reconnects visitors to the first edition of this sister-city project in
London by similarly creating a portal of synthetic-leather creeping through the building’s
floors.
Putin Ofori's work are paintings of Ananse stories.
Frederick Ebenezer Okai’s installation of earthenware represents spiritual gateways in
Ghanaian traditions.
Clifford Bright Abu uses ancient Asante architecture to reconstruct these structures into
digital avatars of extinct architectural histories in contemporary surrealist landscapes.
Rebekka Macht explores the bond between a mother and child.
Victor Ehikhamenor's tapestries figuratively reconstruct the traditional authority figures of
the Benin Kingdom with cheap massified rosaries which explores the complexity of
colonisation, capitalism, and religion.
The dyed naval flag of Henry Hussey features the iconic Benin Bronze with the title ‘Henry’, who was one of the Portuguese sailors who funded the exploitation of the West African region.
The works of Adelaide Damoah encourage us to ponder ancestral cosmic relations by
creating delicate silks and multi-layered cyanotypes with Adinkra symbols that speak of the
origins of life.
Na Chainkua Reindorf’s paintings touch on the contextual relation between women and
textiles.
Elolo Bosoka’s photographs explore our relationship with architecture or urbanscape.
Samuel Baah Kortey's portraits feature hidden women figures of Ghana’s independence
struggle alongside contemporary heroines who may be lost to Ghana’s patriarchal historical
archives.
Ghizlane Sahli and Lisa C Soto’s installation create a network of plants whose chemical
residues synthesise nature right before our very eyes.
Jonathan Okoronkwo and Dela Anyah introduce us to the deconstructive web of machines,
with their wire capillaries, blood oils, and dark skins of synthetic rubber tires.
Afrane Makof presents us with the burden of being cyborgs; keeping company with
machines that estrange us or question our being as humans, confronting us with a reality in
which we may digitally enslave ourselves to AI.
Akosua Odeibea Amoah-Yeboah's droid monks that do not just dwell within the realms of
science, but animate religion as well; with a cyborg connecting itself simultaneously in three states of astral projection.
Phoebe Boswell and Denyse Gawu-Mensah have created intimate installations about their
loved ones and the memories that hold dear, through the ancestral and spiritual
connections that Boswell’s parents hold in parallel forests across the world and Gawu-Mensah’s grandfather’s cabinet.
Nyahan Tachie-Menson, Jasper Dafeamekpor, and Rosemary Esinam Damalie use textile forms as transformative textures: umbilical cords of synthetic wombs, histories with Adinkra, and Ghanaian synthetic hair culture, respectively.
Soundscapes by Boswell, Makof, and Dzidzor Azaglo create an ambience of plants, seas, and recitations of lost women figures throughout the history of Ghana and beyond.
About Gallery 1957
Gallery 1957 is a contemporary art gallery with spaces across Accra, Ghana and London, UK launched by Marwan Zakhem in 2016 on 6 March 1957.
The Gallery dedicates its programme to spearheading international exchanges between art practices from these communities and the rest of the world, presenting artists who interrogate concepts of belonging and identity, cultural exchange, and social history beyond Western narratives.
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