A figure both relaxed and aloof. A friend or a movie character? The orange lipstick and the cigarette casually held between the middle and the ring fingers, the unbuttoned blouse, the scene is hard to read, ladled with ambiguity.
The loose yet precise brushstrokes, the stark contrast between the white blouse and the blue background (is this the night?) speak to the same impressions conveyed by the scene. In this work Appah reaches in stature the likes of Marlene Dumas and Henry Taylor. Portraits with presence, but also a sense of menace.
