Celebrating Eighty @ The Loom

Ghana Tue 15-07-2008

Celebrating Eighty @ The Loom
By John Owoo

An exhibition of paintings dotted by linear and pyramidal progressions as well as subdued colours in honour of Frances Ademola, one of the foremost promoters of Ghanaian art is underway at The Loom Gallery in Accra.

The collective title “Celebrating Eighty”, which marks the 80th birthday of Ademola, seduces viewers with restful expanses of white space, organic/geometric motifs, sharp contrasts of light and dark and a cheerful movement of colours that tend to tickle the most insensitive eye.

“Celebrating Eighty”, which could also represent eighty years of art in Ghana, showcased recent works by contemporary painters from Ghana and other West African countries that provided some perspectives and insight into the current state and gradual development of contemporary art/artists in Ghana.

^{Guests at the Loom}

Participating artists include Prof. Ablade Glover, Prof. Ato Delaquis, Glen Turner, Robert Aryeetey, Nana Amu Fleischer Djoloto, Heather Badger, Gabriel Eklou, Fernand Nonkouni, Benjamin Offei Nyarko and Frederick Oko Mantey.

Nana Amu Fleischer Djoloto presents herself through grids that accommodate diverse images in cool colours that seem to float in outer space. Accompanied by shades of brown, Djoloto leaves a great deal of white space that enables her pieces to sparkle.

Prof. Ablade Glover, director of Artists Alliance Gallery, easily one of the largest galleries in Africa paraded a couple of his famous crowds that are characterised by rows of thick colours and figures that radiate the variety and importance of colours in the life of the African.

A triptych by Glen Turner appears like a single piece when viewed from a distance. It comprises elongated figures and symbols in amazing earth colours while other works consist of strips of wood embellished with paintings and framed together as lines, dots and simple shapes float around.

Paintings by Prof. Ato Delaquis evoke ancient ceremonies in the courts of Ghanaian Kings including graceful and compelling dances while revealing the beauty and diversity of Ghanaian culture. A tranquil blue sky characterizes a number of beachscapes by the artist, who is also an Associate Professor at the College of Art, KNUST.

Pyramidal works by Robert Aryeetey recall images from the savannah highlands of northern Ghana. Interspersed with spray-like effects, huts, baobab trees and geometric figures that are set against cool colours; they make successful forays into the air, environment, culture and probably the mystery of Northern Ghana and the Sahel.

Noted for his constant use of stilts, Gabriel Eklou’s works on display also centre on the Sahel. He appears to focus on Sahelian architecture, which is often accompanied by huge baobab trees. In other works, huge crowds of stilt men and women float against a maze of clay colours.

With a variety of intellectual underpinnings, apparent innocence/sophistication and spontaneous craftsmanship among others - “Celebrating Eighty” is indeed a befitting birthday present for Frances Ademola.

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