DOWN TIME

Near Accra, Ghana, art star Amoako Boafo fashions a restful retreat for himself and others

- LOLA OGUNNAIKE

Few modern artists have enjoyed as meteoric a rise as the Ghanaian sensation Amoako Boafo. Less than a decade ago, he was desperate to sell his work and struggling to make a name for himself. Today, he is renowned for his mesmerizing, finger-painted portraits of Black figures and widely regarded as one of the most significant artists of his generation, with sold-out shows, a wildly successful Dior Men’s apparel collaboration, and a record-breaking auction price. He’s even achieved intergalactic status. In 2021, a trio of his portraits, painted on the fuselage of one of Jeff Bezos’s rocket ships, were launched into space. But while he’s now enjoying stratospheric visibility and international gallery exhibitions with the likes of art world powerhouses Mariane Ibrahim and Gagosian, Boafo remains committed to staying close to home in Ghana, where he has been on a mission to supersize the local art ecosystem.

To that end, two years ago Boafo joined trailblazers Yinka Shonibare, Kehinde Wiley, and Ibrahim Mahama and opened his own artist residency in Africa, dot.atelier|South La in Accra’s South Labadi. “Instead of continually waiting in vain for the government or a savior to come from elsewhere to provide amenities and infrastructure, we are taking matters into our own hands to create the change we want to see in the art industry on the continent,” he explains.