GIDEON APPAH
Paa Kofi Portrait
2019
Oil and acrylic on canvas
38 3/4 by 31 in. 98.4 by 78.7 cm.
GIDEON APPAH
Rain Baths 2
2019
Oil and acrylic on canvas
100 by 90 1/8 in. 254 by 229 cm.
GIDEON APPAH
Stroll Around
2019
Oil, acrylic and wax on canvas
52 by 53 in. 132.1 by 134.6 cm.
Gideon Appah is a mixed media artist who draws from personal experiences of life in the capital of Ghana. In this recent body of work, the artist presents flattened, jewel-like compositions that center around important familial figures, luscious landscapes, prevalent architecture, folklore and daily rituals from his upbringing.
Through nostalgic blues, bold crimsons, deep greens and charcoal, his dreamlike, surrealist subjects of figures and landscapes are abstracted and fragmented. With glimpses of nature and ghostly reflections, Appah focuses on the presence or feeling his representations evoke in order to allude to the organic transformation of memories and recollections over time. Using thick, rough applications of acrylic to build up his compositions, Appah responds directly to his own familial stories and a country's history.
Appah's work has exhibited internationally, including at Goethe Institute (Accra), Casa Barragan (Mexico City), Ghana Science Museum (Accra), Nubuke Foundation (Accra) and KNUST Museum (Kumasa). His work is included in the collections of the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada and Absa Museum in Johannesburg, among other private collections. He was shortlisted for the 2016 Kuenyehia Art Prize.
