Owusu-Ankomah
Owusu-Ankomah’s canvases employ geographically and historically diverse visual references, from Saharan rock painting and Italian Renaissance sculpture, to Ghanaian textile designs, Chinese calligraphy, New York graffiti and capoeira martial arts from Brazil. Specially commissioned by the October Gallery to create new works to commemorate the 2007 bicentenary of the British parliamentary abolition of the slave trade, Owusu-Ankomah calls in his latest pieces for a freedom not only of the body, but of the spirit. Paying tribute to those who have historically struggled for emancipation and consciousness in the African diaspora, he declares through his work a manifesto of love and understanding to fill the space between past and future.
A recurring theme in his large bold canvases is the adinkra system of signs originating from the Akan pre-colonial cloth printing tradition. Each sign relates to a particular proverb or saying, and Ankomah weaves these layers of meaning into his works like poetry, juxtaposing each sign with the next to create a graphic whole. A recurring motif is Sankofa, one of the best known adinkra signs, which literally translates as “go back and pick up what you left behind”. Often pictured as a bird that flies or walks forward with its head facing backwards, the Sankofa proverb dictates that in order to understand where we are now and move on, we must first understand our history. The symbol has long held resonance for liberation and independence movements across Africa and its diasporas, and as the UK turns to reflect on its role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Owusu-Ankomah uses it as a reminder that one must ”remember the past in order to live consciously in the present, and have ambition for a positive future”.
Owusu-Ankomah studied at Ghanatta College of Art in Kumasi, Ghana, before moving to Bremen, Germany in 1986, where he still lives and works. His paintings have been exhibited internationally, touring Germany, the US, the UK, Senegal, South Africa and Cuba. In 2006, he was invited to create a work for the World Cup FIFA Art Edition Project, and he has since been collaborating with designer Giorgio Armani to develop a line of clothing for the Red Campaign, raising funds for the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa.
| Individual Shows |
| 1976 | |
YMCA Hall, Accra, Ghana |
| 1977 |
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Art Centre, Accra, Ghana |
| 1981 | | Art Centre, Accra, Ghana |
| 1987 | |
Villa Ichon, Breman |
| | | Galerie Grünspan, Ottersberg |
| 1988 | |
Galerie im Forum, Bomltz |
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Galerie Roche, Bremen |
| 1989 | |
Von Sharpville bis Soweto, Überseemuseum, Bremen |
| 1991 | |
Galerie Steinbrecher , Bremen |
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Kunstverein Wilgrad, Schwerin |
| 1992 | |
Galerie Wildeshausen, Wildeshausen |
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Galerie la trastienda del arte, Madrid, Spain |
| 1993 |
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BAG, Cologne |
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Savannah Gallery, London, GB |
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Galerie im Hinterhaus, Wiesbaden |
| 1994 |
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Galerie Peter Herrman, Stuttgart |
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Galerie Apex, Göttingen |
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Kunstverein Salzgitter |
| 1995 |
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Hochschule St. Gallen, Switzerland |
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Akademie Loccum Galerie Kühn, Berlin |
| 1996 |
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Tanz auf dem Vulkan, Galerie Steinbrecher, Bremen |
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Galerei Kühn, Lilienthal |
| 1997 |
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Kusum II, Galerie Steinbrecher, Bremen |
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Klappe - die zweite, Galerie Peter Herrmann, Stuttgart |
| 1997 |
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Root Signs, Galerie Jörg Heitcsh, Munich |
| 1998 |
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Galerie Arsenal, Bialystok, Poland |
| 1999 |
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Kronacher Kunstverein, Skoto Gallery, New York, USA |
| 2002 |
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Movements, Kunstverein Bad Salzdetfurth |
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Movements, Galerie Kühn, Lilienthal |
| 2003 |
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Artficio, Gran Canaria, Spain |
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Écart, Osnabrück |
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Paintings, Galerie Petter Herrmann, Berlin |
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Galerie Jörg Heitcsh, Munich |
| 2004 |
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Galerie Walu, Zurich |
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Heroes, Sages and Saints, Ghana National Museim, Accra |
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Human Nature, Filmuseum, Franfurt, Germany |
| 2005 |
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Galerie Jörg Heitcsh, Munich |
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Galerie Simoncini, Luxembourg |
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Diolog der Positionen, Römer - und Pelizaeus-Museum, Hildesheim |
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ARTCO Galerie, Herzogenrath |
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IWALEWA - Haus, Bayreuth |
| Group Exhibitions |
| 1981 |
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Group Show of Ghanaian Painters, Oakland, USA |
| 1985 |
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Artisits for Human Rights, Überseemuseum, Bremen |
| 1986 |
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We Live here, El Patio, Bremen |
| 1987 |
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Exhibition of the BKK (Art Association) Bremen, |
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Weserburg Bremen |
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Paintings 87, El Patio Bremen |
| 1988 |
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Bremer Förderpresausstellung für blidende Kunst, |
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Weserburg Bremen |
| 1991 |
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Bremen Art Show, BBK Bremen |
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Artists of Bremen, Galerie Roche, Bremen |
| 1993 |
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Art Multiple Düsseldorf |
| 1994 |
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Sixteen paintings and prints, London GB |
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Art in Landtag, Mainz |
| 1995 |
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The Right to Hope, Johannesburg, South Africa |
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Absolute Ghana, Accra Contemporary Art ACA, |
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Accra, Ghana |
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African Art of our Time, Tokyo, Japan |
| 1996 |
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Bienale Dakar, Senegal |
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Africana, Sala 1, Rome, Italy |
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Dance on the Volcano, Galerie Steinbrecher, Bremen |
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African-European Inpiration, Alsdorf |
| 1997 |
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Biennale Havana, Cuba |
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Polarisation, Dokoupil/Dahn/Owusu-Ankomah |
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Galerie Jörg Heitsch, Munich |
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Transla Cia 1997, B.W.A. Galerie Pytrow Tryb, Poland |
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Exhibition of the Fourth International Conference of Visual Arts, Vancouver, Canada |
| 1998 |
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Body and Soul, Staatsgalerie Heerlen, Netherlands |
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Aids Worlds, Les Mondes du Sida, Genf, Zug, Bellinzona, Zurich, Switzerland |
| 1999 |
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From Skarabäus to New Beetle, Kuntsverein Bad Salzdetfurth Translacje 1999, Pjotrkow Tryb, Poland |
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Five Continents One City, International Salon of Painting, Museum of Mexico City |
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Transavantgardia, October Gallery, London, GB |
| 2000 |
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Heimatkunst, Haus der Kulteren der Welt, Berlin |
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Arch, Kunstverein Bad Salzdetfurth |
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Paradise Zero, Eventa 5 Biennale, Uppsala, Sweden |
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Kunstoffer, Dialog der Kulturen, Expo 2000, Hanover |
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Transafricana, Bologna, Italy |
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Mission 2000, Lillle, France |
| 2001 |
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"It flys and flys", Kunstverein Bad Salzdetfurth |
| 2003 |
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Ghana Yesterday and Today, Musée Dapper, Paris, France |
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Post Border LAnd, SPK Amsterdam, Netherlands |
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Espacios Mesticos II, International Contemporary Art Meeting, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain |
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A Fiction of AUthenticy: Contemporary Africa Abroad, Contemporary Art Museum St Louis, Missouri, USA |
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Journeys And Destinations, National Museum of Frican Art, Smithsonion Insitute, Washigton D.C., USA |
| 2004 |
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L'Afrique à venir, Kunstverein Osteebad Kühlungsborn |
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Africa Remix,Museum Kunstpalast Düsseldorf |
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Bocca della Verita, Kunstverein Bad Salzdetfurth |
| 2005 |
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Africa Remix, Hayward Gallery, London, GB |
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Africa Remix, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan |
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Africa REmix, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France |
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Retour au futur, Collection Elmer, Abbaye de Neumünster, Luxembourg |
| 2006 |
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Biennale Dakar, Senegal |
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The Elefant; Galerie Kühn, Berlin, Germany |
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Lend Me Your Eye, Kunstverein Bad Salzdetfurth, Gemany |
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Distant Relatives-Relative Distant, Michael Stvenson Gallery, Cape Town, South-Afrca |
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