"The idea is to be the channel between the unheard and the rest of the world."
Untold stories find a voice in radiant and intimate portraits.
Oil paintings by Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe depict friends, family and strangers with rich contouring and thick impasto. The works contrast bright oranges, yellows, reds and blues against the dark skin tones of their figures, created with a mix of deep grey, purple and black pigments. Cultural empowerment is at the heart of Quaicoe’s practice, who was born in Ghana but now lives and works in the United States, a move that has profoundly informed his art. Growing up, Quaicoe was inspired by cinema: both the films that he watched and the hand-painted posters that advertised them. References to Afric...
Bio
Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe was born in 1988 in Accra, Ghana, and is now based in Gresham, Oregon.
Education
A local artist referred him to the Ghanatta College of Art and Design, Ghana, where he received his MFA. It wasn't until his graduation in 2008 that the artist felt he found his own voice and artistic identity.
Did you know?
Quaicoe is a lover of commercial blockbuster films. After noticing that the large-scale movie posters at his local theatre were hand-painted, he began visiting artists' studios and attempting to imitate their practice - eventually leading to his career as an artist.
