Amoako Boafo

The Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo has been artistic from a young age. In an effort to capture his surroundings and the emotions of those around him, he began creating in his childhood, and later organized drawing competitions among friends. Along with his interest in the creative arts, he was drawn to the vibrancy of complex life around him—interested in community, charmed by the intimacy between like-minded people, and puzzled by cultural, social, and political dynamics. His curiosity led him to paint familiar faces, from friends and family to people he admired, allowing viewers a look at his tender take on figuration through subjects that appear self-confident, seeking direct eye contact. In college, he further explored painting nuanced emotions by studying in his hometown at Ghanatta College of Art and Design.   

Ten years ago, Boafo left Accra to pursue a master’s degree at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. It was there in Austria, and in the years that followed, that he doubled down on his focus and developed a recognizable creative style—one informed by texture in an unusual finger-painting technique and subjects looking into the viewer’s gaze. Through painting and this distinct aesthetic, his work in portraiture explores Black bodies and their ability to be seen, reframing their dispositions despite the cultural context of Black culture worldwide. Friends and family still make appearances among acquaintances and public figures, yet all present a contemporary image of Black self-empowerment and self-perception. In many works, floral and geometric wallpaper patterns inform garments, referencing Black culture’s historical and political dress codes. Other paintings reference self-reflection, literary works, the idea of “otherness,” and time-defining global moments—from the Black Freedom Movement to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Boafo’s alluring artistic language quickly gained him a series of accolades and presentations thereafter, including the Walter Koschatzky Art Award; the STRABAG Artaward International; his first solo show in the United States, at Roberts Projects; and the first spot at the Rubell Museum’s artist-in-residence program in Miami. Boafo’s works have also been collected by institutions around the world—including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the High Museum of Art, the Hammer Museum, the Leopold Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Longlati Foundation, The Bass Museum of Art, the Aishti Foundation, and The Albertina Museum. In 2020, Boafo made fashion headlines, too, by creating “Portrait of an Artist,” a suite of artworks for garments in Dior’s Spring/Summer 2021 collection, under the direction of Kim Jones. 

A decade after his formative years in Vienna, Boafo returned to the city that shaped him for a homecoming—his first museum show in Europe. At the Belvedere Museum from October 25, 2024, to January 12, 2025, an exhibition entitled “Proper Love” debuts a collection of creations by the artist, continuing his portraiture practice’s emphasis on representation. The show is on the museum’s lower level, and a selection of works can also be viewed on the upper level in dialogue with works by art historical figures like Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt. 

The visionary also unveils a show at the Norton Museum of Art, “Strike Fast, Dance Lightly” (October 26, 2024–March 9, 2025), where Boafo expands his practice to include new mediums honoring texture, time, and technique.