Kofi Dawson

Last updated

Galle Winston Kofi Dawson (1940 - 2021) was a Ghanaian modernist artist. His range of works included paintings, sculptures, texts, drawing, print, and installations. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Early life and education

Dawson was one of the thirteen children of Ghanaian architect Wilberforce David Kwami Dawson and Evelyn Esi Dawson. He attended Mawuli School in Ho for his secondary school education. Before Mawuli, he attended O'Reilly School and Bana Hill Presbyterian Boys Boarding School. One of his art teachers at Mawuli School was Grace Kwami [3] Thereafter, he went to the then Kumasi College of Technology (KCT) to study diploma in Civil Engineering. He, however, dropped out and joined the teaching specialist Diploma in Fine Art (DFA) class. [1]

When the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) BA Art Degree (Painting) began in 1964, Dawson was part of the first cohort of three students. After KNUST, Dawson attended the Slade School of Fine Art in London on a British Council 8-month Technical Award. At Slade, he learnt and mastered the basics of painting on canvas as well as screen printing. [1]

Career

Dawson was an apprentice of Ghanaian modernist master and designer of the national emblem Amon Kotei. At Victoriaburg Press, Kotei taught Dawson engraving and colour separation process. After Dawson's retirement from Ghana's Information Services Department in 2000, he devoted much of his time to his art practice. [3] He became the first artist to show at Nubuke Foundation gallery in 2009. [5] Dawson was the subject of a large retrospective at the Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama initiated Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art, Tamale.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions (selected)

Galle Winston Kofi Dawson: In Pursuit of something ‘Beautiful’, perhaps…” curated by Bernard Akoi-Jackson Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art, Tamale (2019) [6]

Nutata: drawings by GWK Dawson’ Nubuke Foundation, Accra (2009) [5]

Group exhibitions (selected)

World Mini-Print Annual Lessedra Bulgaria (2006)

Made in Africa Diaspora Conference, UK (2006)

Origin Sankofa Dubois Museum, Accra (2005)

7th Triennale Mondial de liestampe petit format Chamalers, France (2005)

Death

Dawson died in 2021 after a short period of sickness.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amon Kotei</span>

Nii Amon Kotei was a Ghanaian sculptor, painter, musician, surveyor, and graphic artist. Kotei is mostly remembered and celebrated as the designer of the coat of arms of Ghana. He was one of Ghana's leading artists.

Air Marshal Achilles Harry Kwami Dumashie, often known as Harry Dumashie, was a Ghanaian soldier. He served as Chief of Air Staff and as Ghanaian Chief of Defence Staff from 1992 to 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Volunteer Day</span> National Volunteer Day

National Volunteer Day (NVDay) is a day slated for the September 21 of every year which is also Founder's Day by The GhanaThink Foundation, geared towards encouraging Ghanaians to take up the attitude of Volunteerism.

Project 1975 started in 2010 as a two-year project based in the Netherlands with the intent to explore the relationships between contemporary art and postcolonialism. Through this project Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam (SMBA) explored the role of art and visual culture in the context of colonial practices. The project consisted of multiple exhibitions, seminars, reading groups, articles, and a blog. "1975" in the title refers to the year that Suriname gained independence and the Netherlands thus became to some extent "postcolonial".

Kofi Akpabli is a Ghanaian academic, journalist, publisher, tourism consultant and cultural activist. He is a two-time winner of the CNN Multichoice African Journalist for Arts and Culture Awards. His latest work 'Made in Nima' has been featured in the new Commonwealth Anthology which was published in May 2016 Safe House: Explorations into Creative Non-Fiction. Akpabli has four books to his credit and currently works as a lecturer at Central University College in Ghana. He is a founding member of Ghana Cultural Forum and has participated in Xplore FrankfurtRheinemann 2012, Tallberg Forum, Sweden 2011, Berlin Art Festival 2010 and the Düsseldorf Art Preview 2010.

Bright Tetteh Ackwerh is a Ghanaian satirical artist who employs the domains of popular art, street art, painting, and illustration to voice and document his persuasions. He has exhibited widely in Ghana and West Africa, building a niche as an emerging contemporary Ghanaian artist on the West African art scene.

Sherif Abdul Majeed, known by his stage name Maccasio, is a Ghanaian Hip hop, Hiplife, and Afropop recording Artist and Entrepreneur. He is from the Kingdom of Dagbon, in the Northern Region of Ghana. Maccasio raps and sings in his native language Dagbani with the ability to mix it with terms in English and Twi. He has performed on stages with artists such as Davido, Shatta Wale, Samini, Stonebwoy, Medikal and VVIP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nubuke Foundation</span> Art foundation in Ghana

Nubuke Foundation is an art foundation in East Legon in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. It was established in April 2006.

Atta Kwami was a Ghanaian painter, printmaker, independent art historian and curator. He was educated and taught at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana, and in the United Kingdom. He created works that improvise form and colour and speak to uniquely Ghanaian architecture and African strip-woven textiles, including those of the Kente, the Ewe and Asante of Ghana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ghana Institute of Architects</span> Professional society in Ghana

The Ghana Institute of Architects (GIA) is a professional society for architects and built environment affiliates located in Accra, Ghana. The first professional body in independent Ghana, it was registered in 1962 and inaugurated in December 1964 as a self-governing and fully indigenous institution to advance the architectural practice, education and accreditation in the country. The Institute is the successor to the pre-independence Gold Coast Society of Architects, a colonial social club for Gold Coast-based architects founded in August 1954. The first president of the Ghana Institute of Architects was Theodore Shealtiel Clerk (1909–1965), the first formally trained, professionally certified Ghanaian architect and an award-winning urban planner who designed, planned and developed the harbour city of Tema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Akoi-Jackson</span> Ghanaian artist and writer

Bernard Akoi-Jackson is a Ghanaian academic, artist and writer. He is known for projects that are in continual metamorphosis. His art works are mostly performative or pseudo-rituals. His writings are focused on the development of contemporary African, Ghanaian visual arts and culture in poetic and jovial manner. He is known as a proverbial jester or Esu using critical absurdity to move between installations, dance and poetry, video, and photography. He blends post-colonial African identities through transient and makeshift memorials.

Ibrahim Mahama is a Ghanaian author and an artist of monumental installations. He lives and works in Tamale, Ghana.

Samuel Prophask Asamoah is a Ghanaian painter His works have been exhibited widely, locally and internationally with several in art collections. He sits comfortably in the field of painting with his inspirations for his themes from proverbs, daily activities and dreams. His motivation is finding joy while painting and experiencing pain when not painting. His brush name is Prophask and he takes the world as ‘The land of colours'.

Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art is a centre of arts initiated by Ibrahim Mahamah in Tamale, Ghana. The centre is a space where artist run projects, exhibitions and research hub, cultural repository and more.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oscar Korbla Mawuli Awuku</span> Ghanaian artist

Oscar Korbla Mawuli Awuku, better known as Yonga Arts, the name of his artistic brand, is a Ghanaian body artist, painter, and sculptor.

Grace Salome Kwami was a Ghanaian sculptor and educator.

Spoken word in Ghana begun to see growth in Ghana from 2010 through Bless The Mic and Ehalakasa.

Kofi Setordji is a multidisciplinary visual artist based in Ghana. His works range from graphic design, textile designing, sculpture and painting.

Dorothy Akpene Amenuke is a Ghanaian Sculptor/Fiber Artist and Lecturer. is currently a lecture at the Department of Painting and Sculpture at the Faculty of Fine Art, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

References

  1. 1 2 3 "G.W.K Dawson: A Particular History of Ghanaian Modernism (2019)". I.U.B... 2019-04-23. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  2. ↑ Akoi-Jackson, Bernard (2009). Nutata: drawings by GWK Dawson’. Accra, Ghana: Nubuke Foundation. p. 1.
  3. 1 2 3 Kisser, Adjo (2019). Sorting through the clutter: A visit to GWK Dawson's studio. SCCA Tamale. p. 1.
  4. ↑ "Galle Winston Kofi Dawson: In Pursuit of something 'Beautiful', perhaps…". Contemporary And (in German). Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  5. 1 2 Nutata: drawings by GWK Dawson’. Accra: Nubuke Foundation. 2009. p. 1.
  6. ↑ "SCCA – The Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art, Tamale (Ghana). An Interview with Bernard Akoi-Jackson |". Flash Art. 2019-04-08. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.