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Dankyi Mensah, Kumerican Vanguard, 2021, acrylic on canvas, 124.5 x 90.5 cm. image 1
Dankyi Mensah, Kumerican Vanguard, 2021, acrylic on canvas, 124.5 x 90.5 cm. image 2
Lot 172*

Dankyi Mensah
(Ghanaian, born 1978)
Kumerican Vanguard (unframed)

12 October 2023, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond Street

£5,000 - £8,000

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Dankyi Mensah (Ghanaian, born 1978)

Kumerican Vanguard
signed and dated 'Dankyi/ 2021' (lower left); further inscribed 'Dankyi Mensah/ Kumerican Vanguard/ 50" x 36"/ Acrylic on Canvas/ 2021' (verso)
acrylic on canvas
125 x 90.5cm (49 3/16 x 35 5/8in).
(unframed)

Footnotes

Provenance
A private collection, Netherlands.

Educated at the prestigious Ghanatta College of Art, Dankyi Mensah has since become a formidable player in the emerging contemporary artistic stage. Championing the new artistic vocabulary emerging from Ghana, the artist's patriotism and dynamism show through in his aesthetic. The colourful figurative portraits that he has become famed for, such as in the present lot, blend together a mode of expressionism with urban realism as he communicates his social landscape.

The term Kumerica epitomised the harmonisation of the local urban culture of Kumasi in the region of Ashanti and hip-hop culture in America. The definition of Vanguard is used to describe a group of people pioneering at the forefront of a movement. In observing the current work with the title in mind, it is clear that Mensah is portraying the future of his society and culture, giving a fresh perspective and a celebratory look towards the new age and new identity of his people.

Additional information

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