By John Owoo
(In Accra – Ghana)
An exhibition of paintings by Ghanaian academic Dr. Joseph Oduro-Frimpong inspired by the confident motifs of African masks and irreverent styles of Ghanaian roadside art are currently on display at the Goethe-Institut in Accra.
Comprising large scale works realized through black monochromatic style, Frimpong explored subjective and varied beauty aesthetics that showcase day to day scenes and non-acknowledged practices from diverse locations on the African continent.
These works draw motivation from diverse sources such as barbershop signs, popular fashion trends, Igbo Insibidi visual sign language, Congolese Mangbetu head alteration practices, metal design works and lip disc modification practice associated with the Mursi / Mun ethnic groups of Ethiopia.
Frimpong, who is the founder and director of the Centre for African Popular Culture (CAPC) at the Ashesi University in Berekuso (Ghana), equally explores diverse African artistic traditions while aiming at initiating deliberations that encourage positive (re-)evaluations around cultural practices.
Indeed, his expressive and stylized forms, which are highly exemplified in this monochrome works, forcefully evoke the collective dynamism of aspects of popular culture in Africa while grabbing and sustaining the interest of viewers.
A cultural anthropologist, Frimpong has collected many artefacts and pieces over the past decade. Indeed, CAPC represents a long-held passion for ensuring that African Popular Culture is better documented and taught.
CAPC collections include hand-painted movie posters that captured audiences for Accra’s cinema industry in the 1990s to miniature xylophones crafted in the Northern Region of Ghana. Undeniably, its current collection represents the diversity in African popular culture conversation.
The exhibition, which is being supported by Goethe-Institut ends on Friday June 7, 2024.
