Amoako Boafo

Amoako Boafo’s luminous portraits make and hold space for Black joy, Black subjectivity, and Black self-determination. They challenge easy notions of Blackness, as in his ongoing series “Black Diaspora,” which celebrates his peers with a quiet intimacy: Each muse’s gaze, pose, and sartorial flair harmonize to insist on a gorgeously complicated identity of their own. Beginning in early 2019, Boafo experienced a lightning rise in the mainstream art world, becoming highly sought after in a market showing overdue attention to Black artists. His style of measured finger painting animates his vibrant reflections of Black identities, while asserting them as inseparable extensions of himself. Boafo is featured in The Artsy Vanguard 2020.