2016 is not so long ago but really feels like many worlds away for contemporary art from Africa. Back then art galleries where still far and few in capital cities (aside from South Africa) and even fewer had international exposure. Gallery 1957 was born that year in Accra and little could we predict then how successful it would be become. Seredenpity plays an essential part in any collection, and it definitely did for our introduction to Ghanaian artists through Gallery 1957.
Naa Ayorkor and Adei is part of a celebrated series of works from Jeremiah Quarshie that were presented in the seminal show Yellow is the Color of Water. This was the third show of young Gallery 1957 (following two other great artists, after the inaugural show of Serge Attukwei Clottey, and the sophomore show with Zorah Opoku). Yellow is the Color of Water, curated by Robin Riskin, without doubt contributed to put on the world art map the power of contemporary art from Ghana, and above all help launch the black figuration movement.
It was never really our intention to have figurative portraiture in the collection, but the power of Naa Ayorkor and Adei which we would see prominently displayed every day while in Accra won us over. The scale and presence of Naa Ayorkor and Adei, the thematic relevance of Yellow is the Color of Water, giving representation to women, and a connection with the works of Chuck Close, an artist we admire and who served as inspiration for Quarshie, were too good reasons to ignore.
