Ben Uri Research Unit

Born: 1985 Accra, Ghana

Year of Migration to the UK: 2019

Biography

Painter Annan Affotey was born in 1985 in Accra, Ghana. His father was an artist and as a child Affotey enjoyed sitting with him and watching him drawing. When he was eleven years old, he started to produce sketches of images around him, such as movie posters and comics. His parents encouraged him to work in mechanics with his brother, which he did briefly to save enough money to get into art school in 2003. He graduated from Ghanatta College of Art and Design in 2007 with a degree in Drawing and Painting, winning Best Student of Still Life, Best Imagination and Composition, and Best Abstract Drawing awards. He subsequently joined the Revolution Art Organization and displayed his work in several group and solo exhibitions in Accra. In 2013, Affotey was among the co-founders of the African Young Artist Organization (AYAO), a group dedicated to supporting African youth in the arts through education and exhibitions. He moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA in 2014, relocating to Oxford, England in 2019.

Affotey has explored a wide array of styles and subjects, producing abstract-expressionist as well as impressionist paintings. After his move to the USA, he began focusing on portraiture. He produces portraits of friends and relatives with the aim of re-framing and re-examining the experience of black people in society and providing a voice for the marginalised. A distinctive feature in his portraits are the arresting red-eyes of his sitters. Affotey explained that, after moving to the USA from Ghana, ‘I was often questioned why my eyes were red and whether it meant I hadn't slept or was doing drugs, neither of which was true. And it became a symbol for misinterpreted identities […]. The first assumptions made about people are based on sight. So things like skin colour, clothing, accessories, background, setting, and pose dictate emotion. There's no guarantee those things match the character underneath’ (Ronchini press release). Feeling misunderstood by Americans, he asked friends in Ghana to send him pictures of themselves and then also started working from photographs of people that he followed and discovered on social media. The colourful backgrounds and vibrant garments and accessories worn by the sitters are not only reminiscent of his native Ghana, but also highlight the contrast between the colour of someone’s skin and what surrounds them, both physically and metaphorically: Affotey often places his figures into a new setting to emphasise how what surrounds you can contextualise, but not identify one’s character. In relation to his rich colour palette, he explained: ‘I grew up in a place where colors are everyday circumstances, and so I’ve never been afraid of them. […] I like how they bring a tone into the portrait, and suggest something deeper’ (Samper 2021).

Affotey’s sitters are often caught in a pensive mood, their intense, serious gaze engaging the viewer and creating a sharp contrast between their soul and appearance. Their intense emotions are conveyed by means of a bold palette, thick paint and energetic brushstrokes, often with the addition of knife marks. Affotey uses a mix of acrylic and charcoal and paints the complexions of his subjects a deep black, as a powerful statement that ‘‘Black is Beautiful’, and that a dark complexion should be regarded as a source of pride’ (Laster 2022). The large format of Affotey’s portraits, which can be up to 72 by 60 inches in size, allows him to better render the rich texture and details. Affotey often leaves sections of the canvases unpainted, particularly hands, giving his work the appearance of being unfinished, while inviting the viewer to realise that what they are looking at is a work of art, not just the likeness of a person. Curator Katherine Finerty noted that it is ‘the unfinished elements of his works, the voids, through which Affotey asks us a question, enabling us to be a part of and complete the painting’ (Gallery 1957). In 2021, Affotey was selected for an advertising campaign for Tommy Hilfiger X Romeo Hunte fashion design collaboration, creating two paintings of stylishly dressed models that were then repainted as a massive mural on 112 Tabernacle Street, East London.

Affotey’s first European solo show was held in 2021 at the Ronchini Gallery, London, where he contributed vibrant portraits of family and friends, as well as a triple self-portrait, Transformation, with views of how he saw himself: first in Ghana with lighter eyes, then with medium red eyes and, lastly, with darkly reddened eyes. This was followed by The Journey at Gallery 1957, London, in 2022. Affotey also had solo exhibitions in Ghana, Tanzania, USA and France. Affotey was artist in residence with The Cabin, Los Angeles, USA (2021) and De Buck Gallery, Saint-Paul de Vence, France (2022). His work is not currently represented in UK public collections.

Related organisations

African Young Artist Organization (AYAO), Accra, Ghana (co-founder)
Ghanatta College of Art and Design (student)
Revolution Art Organization, Accra, Ghana (member)
Rogues Artists Group (member)

Selected exhibitions

The Journey, Gallery 1957, London (2022)
The Storytellers, group exhibition, Gallery 1957, London (2022)
18 (Rising Ghana), Pm/Am Gallery, London (2022)
Annan Affotey: Windows to the Soul, Ronchini Gallery, London (2021)

Ben Uri archive

Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Annan Affotey]

Ben Uri Research Unit

for the study and digital recording of the Jewish, Refugee and wide Immigrant contribution to British visual culture since 1900.

Annan Affotey artist