Neequaye Dreph Dsane, or Dreph, was born to Ghanaian parents in Nottingham, England in 1973. He gained a BA in Art, Design & Media at the University of Portsmouth in 1997. Since, he has exhibited his work in various public mural projects and exhibitions, and taught art and illustration extensively.
Artist, teacher, and lecturer, Neequaye Dreph Dsane, commonly referred to as Dreph, was born to Ghanaian parents in Nottingham, England in 1973. His parents had immigrated earlier in the 1970s. Dreph subsequently grew up in Windsor, Berkshire and earned a BA in Art, Design & Media (Illustration Pathway) at the University of Portsmouth between 1994 and 1997. Working across a wide range of media, Dreph’s work focuses on portraiture and the human figure, exploring everyday people through colour and ‘an attention to sartorial detail’. His work is inspired by a combination of 80s British sci-fi comics, New York subway art, and the old masters, and is profoundly informed by the ‘cultural and creative exchange that can be shared whilst travelling’ (Artist’s Website).
Dreph has shown his artwork in mural and street art projects in and outside London since the 1990s. In 2008, he participated alongside other important international street artists in The Cans Festival in London, organised by the famous and controversial British artist Banksy. In 2017, he created a series of 10 murals across London entitled You Are Enough, which depicted women of African and Caribbean descent, paying ‘tribute to ordinary women who do extraordinary work for the betterment of their communities and society’ (Barnes, 2017). The same year, he produced a three-day live painting of activist and academic Melissa ‘Melz’ Owusu at Tate Modern, London as part of their Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power after hours. There he spoke to 15-25-year-olds about what ‘Black Power’ meant to them (Artist’s Website). In 2020, he participated in the 50 Windows of Creativity public art trail in Manchester, during which 50 of the city’s windows and other spaces displayed work by artists, designers, and makers. Dreph also produced a large-scale mural-portrait of his father for ITV’s Black History Month that year, having always been fascinated by the stories of his parents’ journey and experiences coming to the UK from Ghana, and thus highlighting ‘the importance of intergenerational conversations’ and the ‘wealth of knowledge and wisdom from our elders that is often lost on younger generations’ (ITV Creates, 2020). In 2022, he participated in The World Reimagined, a UK-wide public art trail of painted globes exploring multi-layered histories and racial justice.
Alongside his artistic practice, Dreph has worked extensively in arts education and outreach. Between 2005 and 2011, he worked as a Lead Art Workshop Facilitator at Spearfish, an arts and events organisation that delivers inspirational workshops to young people around Greater Manchester and across the UK. In 2012, he gained a PGDE Level 6 Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector at the University of Bolton, and subsequently took on various art teaching jobs at London schools, including Oasis Academy Enfield and Newhaven School, and the Matthew Arnold School in Staines, just outside the capital. He then began to give public and educational talks, including at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), London in 2017, and at TEDxTottenham’s 2019 event at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre, under the theme: ‘The Place We Make’. Dreph became an Illustration Lecturer at University of Portsmouth in 2019.
Dreph lives in London, where he continues to work as an artist and educator. His work is not currently represented in any UK public collections.