Larry Otoo

Larry Otoo, currently one of Ghana's best-known painters, refers to himself as a "traditionalist contemporary artist." Born in Accra (Ghana) in 1956, his main subjects of inspiration are the daily activities of Ghanaians. His vibrant oil and acrylic paintings capture the rhythms of daily life in Ghana. The artist assures us that he paints "to record and preserve traditions through imagery".
Larry Otoo graduated from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi (Ghana), with a degree in African art and literature. He has painted since he was a child, when he was scolded for drawing with charcoal on the walls.
Larry Otoo has received extensive recognition and his work is still followed with interest on an international level. He has exhibited in Ghana, the Ivory Coast and Nigeria; In Europe, in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Spain; as well as in Canada, the United States and Japan. In 1987, he was honored as Artist of the Year in Ghana.
His paintings are hung in the Presidential Suite in Ghana and the Chancellery of Ghana in Washington. His latest activities include a residency in Segovia (Spain) and a collective exhibition at the Nubuke Foundation of Accra (Ghana).
His palette is made up principally of three colors: blue, red and yellow. He usually brings brightness to his works with blues and leaves the reds and yellows more or less saturated. By using pale blues for shading, he combines the effect of the three colors and gives an abstract harmony through light.
His preferred subjects are, on the one hand, jazz and its musicians and dancers and on the other, the bustle of local markets; the fruit and vegetable vendors, the smell of the spices and the noise of the crowd. Music is a vital element in his work. His figures, at times almost cartoon-like, break with abstract rhythms, invoking the rhythms of jazz.
Otoo is one of many West Africa artists who is in constant search of a language to express his own personal experience. He is courageous in his artistic experimentation. His sources of inspiration are as much African as they are European, following the same path as many international
artists. However, in spite of this, he always returns to his
roots and revels in the mysteries of Africa, as if he were a jazz musician who improvises and then immediately returns to the score.

Exhibition by several African artists: Anjel, Evans Mbugua, Larry Otoo, Médéric Turay, Méné and Wycliffe Mundopa.

Anjel
The Cameroonian artist Anjel presents works where the subjects are addicts of things and concepts, to fashion and brands. In this world of consumerism, appearances are imposed as if a human necessity, as a catalyst in our lives, making us believe that we are superior.

Evans Mbugua
For the Kenyan artist Evans Mbugua,humans are at the FOCUS center of his artistic approach, choosing whatever creative tool to express himself. The artist paints, takes photos and records hope, the joy of living, love, pleasure, exchange, pride, emotions... placing them in the stage of his life, in that of his friends and of strangers.

Wycliffe Mundopa
The artist Wycliffe Mundopa from Zimbabue is undoubtedly the most passionate and committed to the life of the women and children from the disadvantaged neighborhoods of Harare. His works speak with passion and ire, with cynicism and compassion, but above all, with an unrelenting commitment to the recognition of this part of society too often hidden.

Médéric Turay
In his colourful and very subtly drawn works, the Ivorian Méderic TURAY mixes with precision traditional materials and modern techniques: he constructs, cuts, accumulates and composes with energy and spontaneity moments of life. Cleary, he overcomes the disciplinary barriers to impose his urban style.

Méné
“The origin was innocence and purity”, this way of seeing the world guides the artist Méné in his work taking him to the minimalism of the shapes and the sobriety of the colours. The artist feels the need to express himself with material using distinct supports and pigments: earth, clay, sand, bark...Backgrounds and shapes constitute a union of dynamic merged materials.

Larry Otoo
The main inspirational theme of the Ghanaian artist Larry Otoo is the daily life of Ghanaians. His vibrant oil and acrylic paintings capture the rhythm of everyday life in Ghana. According to the painter his goal is "to record and preserve our traditions through image."

Larry Otoo, currently one of Ghana's best-known painters, refers to himself as a "traditionalist contemporary artist." Born in Accra (Ghana) in 1956, his main subjects of inspiration are the daily activities of Ghanaians. His vibrant oil and acrylic paintings capture the rhythms of daily life in Ghana. The artist assures us that he paints "to record and preserve traditions through imagery".
Larry Otoo graduated from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi (Ghana), with a degree in African art and literature. He has painted since he was a child, when he was scolded for drawing with charcoal on the walls.
Larry Otoo has received extensive recognition and his work is still followed with interest on an international level. He has exhibited in Ghana, the Ivory Coast and Nigeria; In Europe, in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Spain; as well as in Canada, the United States and Japan. In 1987, he was honored as Artist of the Year in Ghana.
His paintings are hung in the Presidential Suite in Ghana and the Chancellery of Ghana in Washington. His latest activities include a residency in Segovia (Spain) and a collective exhibition at the Nubuke Foundation of Accra (Ghana).
His palette is made up principally of three colors: blue, red and yellow. He usually brings brightness to his works with blues and leaves the reds and yellows more or less saturated. By using pale blues for shading, he combines the effect of the three colors and gives an abstract harmony through light.
His preferred subjects are, on the one hand, jazz and its musicians and dancers and on the other, the bustle of local markets; the fruit and vegetable vendors, the smell of the spices and the noise of the crowd. Music is a vital element in his work. His figures, at times almost cartoon-like, break with abstract rhythms, invoking the rhythms of jazz.
Otoo is one of many West Africa artists who is in constant search of a language to express his own personal experience. He is courageous in his artistic experimentation. His sources of inspiration are as much African as they are European, following the same path as many international
artists. However, in spite of this, he always returns to his
roots and revels in the mysteries of Africa, as if he were a jazz musician who improvises and then immediately returns to the score.