AMOAKO BOAFO

Amoako Boafo reinterprets the canon of portraiture and has emerged as a key artist shaping the contemporary culture of Africa and the African diaspora. His elegant paintings honor their subjects by vividly capturing their confidence, style, and individuality. To render the figures in his portraits, Boafo applies pigment with his fingers rather than a brush, making his gestures visible through direct touch.

Boafo was born in 1984 in Accra, Ghana, where he continues to live and work. After teaching himself to draw and paint as a child, he pursued various professions early in his career, most notably playing semiprofessional tennis. In 2008, he graduated from Ghanatta College of Art and Design in Accra, receiving the college’s award for best portrait painter that same year.

In 2013, Boafo moved to Vienna, where, together with artist and curator Sunanda Mesquita, he founded WE DEY—an initiative for exhibitions, workshops, and community programs advocating for artists of color and LGBTQ+ voices. Confronted with the marginalization of Black people in Austria, Boafo decided to focus on portraits of Black subjects, who remain underrepresented in global contemporary art.

Among his artistic references are the expressionist portraits of Vienna Secession artists Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele. Boafo also cites contemporary influences including Jordan Casteel, Maria Lassnig, Kerry James Marshall, and Kehinde Wiley.