Amoako Boafo presents « Soul of Black Folks » at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Fransisco from October 20, 2021 through February 27, 2022.
This exhibition is a survey that features over 20 works by the artist made between 2018-2021 taking into account his changing techniques while creating to be able to reflect the substance of the black figure.
In his exhibition « Soul of Black Folks », Amoako Boafo addresses the factors of COVID-19’s influence, the constant opposition to the fundamental abuse and commodification of black bodies in the media. He raises issues that concern black individuals, while calling for the need to find respite from the ills of society?
Furthermore, he uses his work to move us and show us the life and humanity of Black people?
Amoako Boafo creates paintings that emphasize black subjectivity, black pleasure and black eyes. Through a surprisingly purposeful brushstroke and skillfully executed finger-painted strokes, her prints create a rich visual division that exerts suggestive pressure between areas. This spatial tension results in both internal and external investigations of the artist’s subjects and the demonstration of the painting of the black figures themselves.
« Soul of Black Folks », from the original text of social scientist and Pan-Africanist W.E.B. du Bois is the basis for the title of the exhibition. It is a kind of homage and exploration that evokes the feeling that black individuals have of continually looking at themselves through the eyes of others.
With « Soul of Black Folks », the second highest rated African artist would like to question this need to organize ourselves in the development of our history, our style and our culture. He is on a quest that involves the implementation of a high black knowledge that is in contradiction with the discourse sanctioned by the West?
He seeks through this exhibition an enhancement of the gaze of observers who address all stages of Black life. A kind of strength of the works that lies in its correspondence with a common encounter between the black diaspora and anyone who feels on the margins of society.
The « Soul of Black Folks » exhibition is open through February 27, 2022 at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Fransisco.