The Brooklyn Rail

Renowned for his trademark figurative portraits, Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo (b. 1984) showcases Black joy and resilience in his works—leveraging finger-painting techniques to depict his subjects’ gazes and interior lives. From February 7 through May 4, 2024, the artist will display a series of new works at the Mariane Ibrahim Gallery in Mexico City, marking Boafo’s first exhibition in Mexico and his third solo show with the Chicago-based gallery. Somali-French art dealer Mariane Ibrahim, in fact, is the person who discovered the artist’s work on social media; she found herself drawn to the emerging artist’s boldness and unconventional painting style (founded in his innovative treatment of Black skin). The pair have worked together for more than five years, and this latest exhibition is the continuation of an evolving partnership.

The show, titled The one that got away, offers a unique take on the Vienna-based artist’s expressive portraiture, which positions figures in their natural environment, unveiling each individual’s essence or aura through compelling patterns and rich colors that nearly resemble a mosaic. To this end, while the show puts Boafo’s canvases at the forefront, audiences can also enjoy his debut exploration into mosaic and stained-glass mediums, an expansion of the artist’s repertoire that nonetheless pays homage to his signature style. It is important to note that the artist’s subjects aren’t strangers or public personas, but friends and collaborators—always people with whom he has a personal connection. These figures share calming expressions and an overarching sense of ease, which wouldn’t be possible without the relationships behind the works. Boafo admits he incorporates aspects of himself into his canvases—involving himself in every interaction such that he can ultimately transmit a specific environment or feeling to the viewer; this is a vital reason he focuses on figures with whom he personally identifies. While the colors, patterns, and energy are entirely his subjects’, the works are very much Boafo’s own, founded in his daily interactions.

These relationships come to life through the artist’s treatment of Black skin. What stand out most in Boafo’s artistry are the sinuous lines that comprise his subjects’ flesh, superimposed as layers of varying shades of brown and blue that snake along the face and body. Rather than relying on brushstrokes, the artist places his fingers into his palette and applies different hues of oil paint directly to his paintings, allowing his movements to navigate the surface in a near-sculptural manner. The fingers provide an energy or dynamism that the brush simply cannot mirror, and so Boafo treats his subjects’ skin frenetically yet with care; every stroke of the finger is visible, in contrast to the subtlety of the scenes he creates with subdued backgrounds of primarily white or cream, sometimes lightly patterned.

In White Pearls (2023), a young woman gazes directly at the viewer, her eyes narrowed yet animated with provocative delight. One arm is at rest, while the other is bent at the elbow, allowing the subject to extend a manicured hand by her ear—as though she is listening, or perhaps beckoning the viewer. Matching sets of pearls adorn her wrist and neck; the subject’s red lips reflect her painted fingernails, and she wears a white halter top covered in a pattern of vibrant birds. The work is a call-and-response of sorts, and the outcome is intimate, almost to the point of being disconcerting. Camellia Wrapper (2023) is just as lovely, featuring a shirtless subject wearing floral-patterned shorts that match a verdant, green-and-white wallpaper backdrop. The large-scale work of oil and paper transfer on canvas shows the subject from behind this time, underscoring the figure’s textured skin from head to hips: layers upon layers of finger-painted swirls, of browns and beiges and blues. Here the subject has physically shifted away from the viewer, revealing a vigorous and inspired back, yet the connection remains, imploring audiences to consider what’s taking place.

Navigating the gallery space, viewers will note a palpable connection—the artist’s and their own—with each subject, making direct visual contact with Boafo’s figures, taking in the physical grandeur of the works alongside these beings’ spirituality and strength. Through this introspective series of painted, stained-glass, and mosaic works, Boafo has all but reconfigured the way in which the world connects with Black bodies. The one that got away is a testament to the resilience of humanity, and to the artist’s growth as he experiments with new mediums, creating stained-glass and mosaic works that are improvisational in nature and free from constraints while reinforcing the artist’s loyalty to his subjects. There’s deep intentionality founded in harmonious interactions throughout the gallery space. Once again, Ibrahim and Boafo have come together to develop something special.