▲ Take Two, Oil on canvas, 152.4x152.4cm, 2023 ⓒ Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Gana Art Nineone

Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, a Ghanaian artist based in Portland, the United States, will hold his first solo exhibition, Embodyment, in Korea.

He is a talented artist who has been introduced to various galleries around the world, including the Portland Art Museum, the Rubell Museum, and the Museo Picasso Malaga.

▲ Wilderness II, Oil on canvas, 121.9x91.4cm, 2023 ⓒ Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Gana Art Nineone

After learning photography from a friend who was a photographer, he moved his photos to the canvas and began his creative activities.

His paintings feature a black man as the main character and pay tribute to his dignity and strength. His paintings, in particular, are characterized by a dramatic contrast caused by a bright monochrome background and dark-skinned Pisachae.

▲ Mugshot, Oil on canvas, 152.4x152.4, 2023 ⓒ Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Gana Art Nineone

The artist wants to reveal their spirituality and humanity through the comfortable and confident attitude of the subject staring directly at the audience, going further from the direction that focuses on vivid colors and black portraits.

The artist also elaborated on the pattern of thin lines inspired by traditional African tattoos along the curves of the face and body, suggesting that tattoos, which were national and social class markers, gradually became an expression of fashion and self.

▲ New Lower Prices, Oil on canvas, 213.4x137.2cm, 2023 ⓒ Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Gana Art Nineone

Through this exhibition, visitors will be able to experience the artist's gaze that sharply captures the characteristics, inner and narrative of black people in American society.

The exhibition will run until Mar. 10 at Gana Art Nineone in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.

▲ The installation view ⓒ Gana Art Nineone

Sayart / Nao Yim, yimnao@naver.com