Goodman Gallery has announced the representation of the estate of late Ghanaian painter Atta Kwami, in partnership with London’s Beardsmore Gallery. Kwami, who lived and worked between the U.K. and his native Ghana until his death in 2021, was posthumously awarded the Maria Lassnig Prize the same year. A new solo exhibition of the artist’s work will be held at Goodman Gallery’s Cork Street location in London this May.
Born in 1956, Kwami was a prolific creator whose work spanned large-scale public art commissions and solo exhibitions at renowned institutions such as the National Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian Institution, and Kunsthalle Basel. His work, defined by colorful geometric abstractions, drew inspiration from Ghanaian architecture and the strip-woven textile traditions made famous by the Ewe and Asante people. These blocky color fields, often arranged in idiosyncratic assemblages, became known as “Kusami Realism,” which was heavily influenced by the rhythms of African music and jazz improvisation.
