Kojo Marfo: Dreaming of Identity

Ghanaian-born artist Kojo Marfo (born 1980) has been living and working outside of Africa since he moved to his Aunt's house in Balham, London in the late 1990s. Kojo was born into the Akan ethnic group of Ghana whose families are typically close-knit and matrilineal, with women inheriting both estates and social status from their mothers. This matriarchal background is strongly evident in Kojo's recent paintings, especially so in the magnificent 'group portraits' aptly-titled Noble and Dowager, both of which were painted for this exhibition. The term 'group portraits' is in quotation marks because this way of describing Kojo's images is rooted in traditional Western art historical discourse and ways of seeing.