IN/TO

THE PUBLIC SPHERE

Max Boadi
Nana Ama Akainyah

ARTcapital - ban2 Gallery

September 30-October 14, 2010.
Concept, Design and Print by
PRINTRIGHT LTD.
Tel: (233) 0302 778207 / 024 462 1366
 This exhibition includes works by two
young Ghanaian artists.
Many of the works are currently privately
owned by various collectors.

This is only the second exhibition to

be held by ARTcapital GHANA- purveyors
of fine contemporary African Art.

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IN/TO THE PUBLIC SPHERE
Years ago, when Ablade Glover claimed oil painting as a
veritable medium of expression for contemporary African
artists, a lot of ink was spilled and many hairs split. Now a
young lion, Max Boadi, has picked up his palette knife and is
roaring!
Boadi lives and works in Accra- a cosmopolitan city, a modern
metropolis where the beaches are always teeming with
economic and recreational activities. With the keenness of a
fish-eagle, his paintings document fishermen trading their
catch, confident women negotiating for wares and children
playing on the beach.
He also goes indoors and provides haunting images of
preadolescent girls day dreaming or exchanging secrets- and
leaves us wondering what else they could be up to!His
figures are purposeful, confident and engaged.
The totality of the individual compositions provide for an air
of expectation. The color scheme is attention grabbing for
both the seasoned collector and occa-sional art viewer. The
subtle harmony of blues, yellows, red and mauves which
predominate in Boadi's oils cannot be stripped down to the
essentials of line and color; there is an absolute lack of
hesitation. Boadi's art has the ability to attract an eclectic
audience; it is easily accessible.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ARTcapital will like to thank our dedicated public and private
sponsors, cooperating partners and friends who have shared with
us the vision that the time has come to showcase and assert
exciting Contemporary Afri-can Art- surely, it's Africa's Turn.
The tremendous good will and dedication of the committed people
who have contributed to the holding of this exhibition are
exceptional.
Our deepest gratitude to all the individuals and institutions that
have provided moral and material support for this event. Without
this sup-port, the exhibition would not have taken place.
CREDITS
Exhibition Curator; Damali Kelly
Catalog Design and concept; Damali Kelly
Catalog Photography; Ernest Acquaye
Research; N.B. Andrews
Printing; Printright Ltd.
Sponsors; GhanaRemit LLC
neuroGHANA
GhanaDot.com

The work is fresh and the voice clear; the aesthetic sense
finely poised.

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 There is no lack of emotional honesty neither is there the
lack of a tingling sensation that for once, the artist felt some
profound emotion and was not painting to please a patron-
local or expat.

Nana Ama Akainyah's paintings are compelling in their

Self Portarit- Max Boadi
Collection of the artist
Max Boadi, Accra 2010.
Photograph,
courtesy of the artist.
technique and composition. She is not afraid to experiment
with color and symbols; as a geometric abstractionist she is
definitely not clichéd; she serves up a po-tent postmodern
Africanist narrative. The collage of colors and or shapes in
"Sweets", "Reflections" and "Directions" is almost
encyclopedic.
Her quest is to narrate the complexities of (?modern)
identity, specifically African identity, in the current epoch.
Her compositions struggle with much grace and fortitude
against the bounds of time and place.
Through this, she is able to offer a nuanced (and I daresay
more accurate) interpre-tation of the vibrant, noisy,
contentious, continually evolving and chaotic space that
constitutes a contemporary African megapolis-like Accra-
where she lives and works.

She goes even further and explores modern landscapes

ranging from the large cities of North America and Europe to
the African veldt and Guang-zhou. Akainyah's art represents
a unique and ever-changing convergence of influences
characterized by lush metaphor, careful characterization and
striking paradox.

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Indeed, through her technique she is able to project at one
and the same time a proper balance between control and
freedom. Did someone say or think- African fractals?

I am almost certain that in her paintings we can discern elements of

Bamana sand divination, indigenous African architecture, Eulerian
paths and Owari/Mancala stratagems.

That Akainyah is able to pull all this off so early in her career is an
indication of the depth and breadth of her African-ist knowledge,
her talent and promise. I am certain that we will hear a lot more
from and about her in the not too distant future.

Both of these young artists- Boadi and Akainyah have placed IN/TO
THE PUBLIC SPHERE their current formidable perspectives on our
activities of daily living. The arc of history is on their side. We can
only continue to cheerfully anticipate further illuminating insights
from both of them.

Nii Bonney Andrews,

Blebo We-Sakumo.

Running, 2010.
Oil on canvas, 69x54cm
Private Collection

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 Pages 6-19 inclusive:
Art by Nana Ama Akainyah

Pages 22-37 inclusive:

Art by Max Boadi

Blue Moon
Oil on canvas, 2010, 89x77cm
Private Collection

36 5
 Reflections, 2010
Oil on canvas, 92x89.5cm

All Alone, 2010

Oil on canvas, 102x77cm
Private Collection

6 35
 Sweets,2010
Acrylic on canvas, 76.5x76.5cm

Helping Mate, 2010.

Oil on canvas, 124x101cm
Private Collection

34 7
 Bloom, 2010
Acrylic on canvas, 76x69cm

Girl with bowl, 2010.

Oil on canvas, 124x102cm
Private Collection

8 33
 Mending, 2010
Oil on canvas, 153x102cm
Private Collection

Arrivals, 2010
Acrylic on canvas, 30x40cm
Collection of Mr & Mrs A. K. Akainyah

32 9
 Busy Morning
Oil on canvas, 125x102cm
Private Collection

Dreams, 2010
Acrylic on Canvas, 25.5 x 35.5cm

10 31
 Run, 2010
Acrylic on canvas, 20.5 x 25.5 cm

Beach Morning, 2010

Oil on canvas, 125x102cm
Private Collection

30 11
 It's a Boy 2010
Acrylic on canvas, 30x40cm

Girl with red cloth, 2010

Oil on canvas, 124x101cm
Private Collection

12 29
 Beach Play, 2010
Oil on canvas, 125x101cm
Collection of Eddy Andrews & Dr. Christine Clerk Angry Mama, 2010
Acrylic on canvas, 30x40cm

28 13
 Discipline, 2010
Acrylic on canvas, 30x40cm

Girl, 2010
Oil on canvas, 132x101cm
Private Collection

14 27
 Three Heads, 2010.
Oil on canvas, 114x 89cm
Private Collection

Octopus
Acrylic on canvas, 70x57.5cm

26 15
 Darwin, 2010
Acrylic on canvas, 73.5 x 76.5cm

Drummer Boy, 2010.

Oil on canvas, 102x77cm
Private Collection

16 25
 Memories, 2010
Acrylic on canvas, 92x91cm
Empty street, 2010
Oil on canvas, 101.5x76cm
Private Collection

24 17
 Lips, 2010
Acrylic on canvas, 62x54cm

Sharing a secret, 2010.

Charcoal on canvas, 124x102cm
Private Collection

18 23
 Beach Holiday, 2010.
Oil on canvas, 124x101cm
Private Collection

Brothers, 2010
Acrylic on canvas,41x31cm
Private Collection

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 Nana Ama Akainyah, ban2 gallery, Accra- August 2010.
Nana Ama Akainyah, ban2 Gallery, Accra- August 2010. Photograph by Ernest Acquaye.
Photograph by Ernest Acquaye.

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