Amoako Boafo

Thomas Amoako Boafo, known as Amoako Boafo (born 10 May 1984), was an artist,born and raised in Osu, in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Quotes I tried to work with the space respectfully, honoring the building’s legacy while also bringing my own history into it. We have a shared understanding of how space can shape both experience and community. There’s a strong connection between visual language and poetry for me…My studio isn’t an isolated space, it’s full of conversations, exchange, and community. I wanted certain elements to have a stronger physical presence, not just to be represented visually, but to carry their own materiality. Textiles already play an important role in how I think about identity, presence, and character, so bringing embroidery into the work felt like a natural extension of that. Back home, if someone is marking an occasion that has an element of luxury, you think of lace. It carries a certain presence and respect, regardless of whether it’s expensive or simple. Venetian portraiture has historically constructed ideas of prestige, beauty, status, and power. What interested me was what happens when my subjects enter that tradition, and that they are not intimidated by it. They are not simply guests, they are affirming their own identities. Placing Black portraiture in a place like Palazzo Grimani is a way to bridge classical tradition and contemporary Black experience. For me, painting is essentially about documenting and celebrating Blackness. I want the figures in my paintings to be strong and unapologetic. Amoako Boafo Drew on Venice’s Rich Creative Heritage for His First Solo Show in Italy-VOGUE(26 May 2026) I want to explore collaborations, but in the way musicians do, bringing talented individuals to help improve and elevate the experienc Collaborating with an architect on this show helped me create an environment that engages my audience, allowing them to interact deeply with my work and also showcase how I enjoy both the process of making and sharing my art Why should the space of making not be the core of the exhibition? Amoako Boafo and Glenn DeRoche on collaboration and building spaces for art 24 February 2026 A portrait can be expressed in many different ways – the genre offers an infinite number of motifs to try out A simple movement can create an incredibly intense energy and reveal highly sculptural figures My work is above all about elevation and representation Interview with Amoako Boafo, rising star in the art world 1 May 2021 I want to remind myself that I don’t always have to be out there, rushing around Whenever I would sit and draw, I wouldn’t think about anything else; it was as if there were no problems I don’t see anyone who’s 40 years old in this world beating me It’s not like I paint one way and then have a different character. The way I live is the way I paint I think there should be more education on collecting, because once we have home-based collectors, careers can be more sustainable Painting is part of me ‘I did it for the experience’: Amoako Boafo, the artist who painted Jeff Bezos’s rocket ship 10 April 2025 When I paint I get tired but there is a certain feeling with painting – when you are tired and then you wake up and you see the work you’ve done, you feel refreshed again I thought if I want to free myself and if I want to experiment, then why not unlearn what I already know and make my own rules, shift away from the traditional tools The idea about the books is to challenge and change the mindset I was also questioning if a person is only worthy when they have certain knowledge? When they are »intellectual«? Or are people who do not have that knowledge worth less The mirror is a reflection of myself, my knowledge and how I position myself What you do not know does not bother you In the mirror I show myself as someone who happens to be big, I am enough for myself and it is also a form or an idea of self-validation I started drawing as a form of resistance 3 October 2018 For me painting is basically documenting and celebrating blackness People often ask me: Why do you only paint black people? But I don't think anyone would ask a white artist painting white people about that For me painting is like creating my own community You would not want to be an artist in Ghana. And no one wants their kids to be artists because it's not something that will pay There’s always a bit of me staring at you through my paintings N.D External Links Category:People from Ghana Category:Artists Category:1984 births