About the Artist

Isaac Kwame Awuku

By Rozenia Johnson

Valentine New York, the Magazine

Upon entering the gallery the viewer is immediately captured by the vibrancy and power of the images. In an almost trance-like state, the viewer is forced to decide which painting to approach first in order to conduct a closer examination. One becomes completely enveloped in vibrant blues, reds, oranges, and greens that cascade onto the canvas.

Born December 24, 1964, in Accra, Ghana, Awuku is one of the foremost West African artists residing in the Detroit and Chicago metropolitan areas. He began creating works of art at the age of eleven, learning traditional carving techniques from members of his family. He studied for five years at the Opportunity Industrialization Centre in Ghana, concentrating on the art of wood and clay sculptures. Over the course of his professional career, Awuku began to establish himself as a renown artist, and arts educator developing arts programs for children and elders in various villages throughout Ghana, and lecturing extensively in the United States. He has further dedicated himself to the field of art by encouraging generations of emerging artists through the founding of African Origins in Accra, Ghana, and the Awukugwa Origins Gallery in Detroit.

Although Awuku has lived in the United States for quite some time, he remains very rooted to his West African culture. The sights and sounds of his native Ghana have been essential to shaping his perspective as an artist. It is impossible to separate the individual from the culture. The reverence for unity within family and community that marks the foundation of African cultures pour out from Awuku's sculptures and paintings so abundantly that one feels there is an unyielding passion which could only exist through a specific intimacy with the land, its customs and its people. Rather than abandon those teachings of traditions and memories of "gathering together," Awuku provides insight into the spiritual and cultural experiences that compel him to create, and transfers this to the clay and the canvas.

Awuku's painting technique involves the building up of layers of paint on the canvas relying on a palette knife instead of a brush. On close inspection this technique suggests an almost abstract feel. However, it is when the viewer stands back from the works that forms clearly begin to emerge, and the abstraction evolves into the recognizable. The result is a body of work that radiates with energy, excitement, and movement. Bold strokes of color are used in a very deliberate manner. They define the drapery of the richly textured garments worn by the women in the piece entitled "market women," as they go about in the day's work of buying and selling their goods. In Strolling Musicians, the shapes of the musical instruments are made distinctive from one another, and are rendered with an obvious authenticity.

One subject among Awuku's artwork that is given a great deal of prominence is the female figure. This subject takes on a variety of roles in Awuku's paintings as he again relies on conveying his experiences of African culture. Wives, mothers, sisters, and grandmothers are captured in the midst of a purposeful stride that is profiled to reveal a baby strapped on their backs, another child at their sides, with objects of pottery or calabash vessels gripped firmly in their hands. In other works women are given dominance in scale, reflecting their importance within the family and communal structure. The women, occupying the center of the canvas, stop on a road to greet one another socially, almost impervious to the viewer's gaze. In "Welcome Home," a figure depicted as a matriarch of the family stands in full frame on the canvas with such stoic presence as if waiting to be confronted or challenged in some way. Her stare is undeniable and direct. Even when these women appear to be standing motionless, there is a feeling that movement has occurred or is about to take place.

Although much of Awuku's works are symbols of tribute and celebration, he does present historical imagery that deals with more stark and difficult subject matters. One of the most poignant pieces in the exhibition is entitled "Reparations." It shows large slave ships wavering off the coast of what could be Nigeria, Ghana, or Benin, while countless faceless figures are arranged in an orderly line formation on the foreground. The ships, portrayed with a rough textured relief-like surface, wait patiently to receive their cargo. This piece is significant in that it connects the African experience directly to the experience of the Africans in the Americas, and the Middle Passage. The figures, illustrated in abstract form, represent the countless millions who were enslaved and forced to endure an indescribable and horrific journey. With this work, Awuku provides two perspectives. One is the view of the slave ships as witnessed by those being captured. The other is the perspective of the viewer who looks in on the entire scene, and contemplates the questions, "Who were they" and, "What if. . . "

While many of the works in the exhibition are paintings, the sculptural works most certainly need to be noted, as they are simply magnificent. The fired clay masks representative of the Watusi culture and kings and queens of various other ethnic groups on the continent, are intricately designed. The markings that adorn these masks speak of ceremony and ritual associated with rites of passage, birth, marriage, and the "crossing over" of the spirit to finally become an ancestor. The hair elaborately twisted, locked or bound, sits like a regal crown above their heads. Their lips and noses could be reminiscent of the Yoruba, Igboo, Wodabe or Ndebele people, or of a more familiar face in our own family. There is so much visual information to be found in these pieces that one could study them endlessly.

Isaac Kwame Awuku us an artist who is truly passionate about the process of creative expression. Passion, it seems, is a necessary component that invigorates him. Many artists speak of this, but few are true to it or are able to sustain it throughout their careers. Speaking about his work, Awuku remarks, "This is the only way I can communicate directly and register my feelings spontaneously." Awuku immerses himself into the role of the artist and also that of "visual historian". He not only documents the vitality of African societies, but also presents and preserves it with an interpretive style that is uniquely his own.