By John Owoo
(Accra – Ghana)
In Let’s Dance, an exhibition of 48 works by veteran Ghanaian painter Larry Otoo at Tiga Art Gallery, the infectious energy of jazz and highlife, the movement of dancers, and the communal joy of music take center stage.
The exhibition celebrates music as more than entertainment, presenting it as a cultural experience that brings people together and preserves memories of Ghanaian social life. Through acrylic paintings featuring bold colors, expressive lines, and dynamic compositions, Otoo captures moments when rhythm takes over, and ordinary gatherings become memorable celebrations.
From intimate musical trios to large orchestras, the paintings explore the relationship between performers and their audiences. Trumpeters, drummers, and full bands fill the canvases, while spectators respond with dancing, conversation, and conviviality. The figures’ restless movement gives the works a sense of rhythm, making the paintings appear to move in time with the sounds they represent.
Recognized early this year with the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Art Award for Lifetime Achievement in Painting, the collection celebrates jazz and highlife, as well as the simple joy of people gathered around music. This emphasis on shared experience forms the exhibition’s emotional center, inviting viewers to see music as a powerful expression of collective identity.
For Otoo, however, music is only one aspect of a broader artistic commitment to documenting Ghanaian culture. His paintings of traditional durbars capture the ceremonial details that convey authority, identity, and social hierarchy, from the umbrellas associated with chiefs to the swords used in oath-taking and the protocols governing seating arrangements. Other works explore rural livelihoods and the traditions that have sustained communities across generations.
This documentary impulse lends his colorful compositions a historical dimension. Rather than merely depicting celebrations, Otoo records the customs, relationships, and social practices that shape Ghanaian life. His paintings consequently occupy a space between artistic interpretation and visual history.
An accomplished colorist, Otoo is 70 and still working with considerable energy, Otoo remains committed to making art accessible. His belief that displayed works ultimately belong to the public reinforces the exhibition’s welcoming character. The paintings invite viewers into a world of color, movement, and cultural memory without requiring specialized knowledge.
Undeniably, Let’s Dance! celebrates musical pleasure and affirms Ghanaian cultural life. It achieves this by transforming familiar scenes of performance and gathering into enduring images of a society whose rhythms continue to shape its collective memory.
The exhibition ends on Tuesday, November 17, 2026.
