Kwesi Botchway: Becoming As Well As Being: Gallery 1957

We delightfully attended the Kwesi Botchway exhibition held at Gallery 1957 back in December 2020 and was blown away at the plethora of striking pieces. The year of 2020 has been a tough one to say the least, and the exhibition catered to the events that have happened over the course of last year.

The exhibition begins with as if the artist has been watching the news. The first room recognises the year of #blacklivesmatter with a gathering of the protest and marching that occurred globally for the tragic death of the late #GeorgeFlyod.

The exhibition then takes you on a journey of figurative paintings displaying different emotions in their gaze. His point of focus is the Eyes, Nose and Mouth which is where our emotions are best portrayed, Botchway also believes it helps us better visually experience one another’s feelings; an exchange of information without using words.

His Paintings help create an intriguing dialogue between the subject’s message and the viewer. Botchway work compels the viewer to become physically and emotionally invested in the subject’s story whilst displaying a ray of emotions. His use of bright colours elevates blackness by painting his subjects with an unbashed colour palette, confident poses and supreme style. 

Let us take you through a journey of the tour's most gripping pieces through pictures that we took. Although we also recommend seeing these pieces in person. We thank Gallery 1957 for introducing us to the amazing Ghanaian talent that has fast become one of our favourites. We are looking forward to seeing more of your work in the near furture.