Amoako Boafo: Proper Love
This book was published on the occasion of Amoako Boafo: Proper Love at the Belvedere, Vienna—the first European museum exhibition for the artist, who began studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna in 2014 after graduating in 2008 from Ghanatta College of Art and Design in Accra. Boafo’s portraits of friends, acquaintances, public figures, and himself redefine contemporary figure painting, celebrating Black identity in light of the African diaspora and emancipatory movements. The artist’s use of fingers to paint adds distinctive textural and sculptural effects to his representations, in contrast to the flatness of other sections of his collage-like compositions.
The catalogue reproduces over fifty paintings dating from 2016 through 2024, arranged according to the exhibition’s themes: Answering Gaze, Viennese Women, Proper Love, Volta Pavilion, Masculinities, and Self-Portraits. These were exhibited in juxtaposition with works by Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele from the Belvedere’s collection. Texts by Sergey Harutoonian, Mahret Ifeoma Kupka, Stella Rollig, Taiye Selasi, and Vasilena Stoyanova, and a conversation between Boafo and Ekow Eshun offer perspectives on his practice.
Publisher: Walther König, Cologne, Germany
Publication date: 2024
Contributors: Amoako Boafo, Ekow Eshun, Sergey Harutoonian, Mahret Ifeoma Kupka, Stella Rollig, Taiye Selasi, Vasilena Stoyanova
Designer: Beton, Vienna
Printer: Gerin, Wolkersdorf, Austria
Format: Hardcover
Dimensions: 9 3/4 × 12 inches (24.8 × 30.5 cm)
Pages: 158
Language: English
ISBN: 978-3-7533-0722-0
