Annan Affotey

Annan Affotey is a Ghanaian artist navigating black identity through portraiture. His paintings focus on individuals of colour from his personal life or strangers he meets through social media. Each portrait highlights the nuances of facial expression and examines what goes beyond the surface level. Affotey works to bring everyday experiences into intensely colourful, textured and expressive compositions, utilising modelling paste over pencil sketches which create his signature waves and ridges before finally applying paint. Affotey is deeply influenced by the presence of strong women during his childhood and the diversity of having lived in Ghana, Europe and the United States. He has exhibited internationally including his solo show at De Buck Gallery, in New York.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023
The Simple Life, De Buck Gallery, New York, NY. Solo Show.

2022
Nature’s Complexions, De Buck Gallery, Saint-Paul de Vence, France.
The Journey, Gallery 1957, London, UK.

2021
Ghana(tta) Strong, Gallery 1957, Accra, Ghana.
Windows to the Soul, Ronchini Gallery, London, UK.
Friendly Reminder, The Cabin, Los Angeles, CA.
Champions, Amar Singh Gallery, Online.

2019
Out of Africa, David Barnett Gallery, Milwaukee, WI.

2017
Solo Exhibition, Nafasi Art Space, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

2016
Solo Exhibition, Gallerie M, Milwaukee, WI.

2014
Adom Akyede Art Exhibition, Accra, Ghana African Regent Hotel, Accra, Ghana.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023
Figure This I & II: Sarah Kravitz, London UK.
The Cabin LA Presents: A Curated Flashback, Green Family Art Foundation, Dallas, TX.

2022
In Our Time: Selections from the Singer Collection, with Amoako Boafo, Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, and Patrick Alston (and many others), Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA), Scottsdale, AZ.
Facial Recognition, Fabien Fryns Fine Art, Dubai, UAE.
The Storytellers, Gallery 1957, London, UK.
Intersecting Identities, Arushi Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. 18 (Rising Ghana), Pm/Am Gallery, London, UK.

2021
Untitled Art, Miami Beach with De Buck Gallery, Miami, FL. [West] African Renaissance, Gallery 1957, Christie’s, Dubai, UAE.

2019
Gallery 2622, Wauwatosa, WI.

2018
Agora Gallery, New York City, NY.
Gallery 2622, Wauwatosa, WI.

2017
Arts@Large Gallery, Milwaukee, WI.
Sharon Lynne Wilson Center, Brookfield, WI.

2015
Art Basel, Ayzha Fine Arts, Miami, FL.
Kroma Art Gallery, Miami, FL.

2014
Ghana National Museum, Accra, Ghana.
Francis Annan Comes to America, Milwaukee, WI.