Kwesi Botchway | VIELMETTER LOS ANGELES

: Born in 1994, Accra, Ghana
: Lives and works in Accra, Ghana

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2025: "Be Your Own Cool," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
: "The Sun Must Come Down Part II," Galerie 195, London, UK
2023: "Kwesi Botchway: There’s More Than What the Eye Witnesses," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
2022: "Rumors of Blackness," Maruani Mercier Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
2021: THE ARMORY SHOW, Booth P19, Gallery 1957, New York, NY
2020: "Becoming As Well As Being," Gallery 1957, London, UK
: "Dark Purple Is Everything Black," Gallery 1957, Accra, Ghana
2017: Hos Oona Galleri & Sundhed, Vejle, Denmark

Selected Group Exhibitions

2025: "30 Years" Maruani Mercier, Knokke-Heist, Belgium
: "Echoes of Her," Maruani Mercier, Brussels, Belgium
2024: "How Do You Want to See Yourself, Curated by Larry Ossei-Mensah, Galleria Anna Marra, Italy
2023-2024: "Africa Supernova: Collection Carla & Pieter Schulting," Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort, Netherlands
: "Accra! The Rise of a Global Art Community," The Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH
2023: "Pop Masters: Art From the Mugrabi Collection," HOTA Home of the Arts, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
: "Filling in the Pieces in Black," Maurani Mercier, Brussels, Belgium & Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
: "Perpetual Portrait," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
: "It’s here, it’s there, it’s everywhere," Ghana National Museum, Accra, Ghana
: "It’s Time," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
2022-2023: "Unlimited," Gallery 1957, Kempinski Hotel, Gold Coast, Ghana
: "When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting," Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town, South Africa
2021: "[West] African Resistance," Gallery 1957, (In Collaboration with Christie’s Dubai), Dubai, UAE
: "Resistance," Maruani Mercier Gallery, Knokke, Belgium
: "Homecoming : Aesthetic of the cool," Gallery 1957, Accra, Ghana
: "Wake-up Call," blijven liggen/laten staan, Collection Tanguy & Bieke Van
: "Quickenborne," Platform 6a by Deweer, Otegem, Belgium
2020: "Cgunu/Nkambom Art Exhibition," Cape Town, South Africa
2019: Chalewote Street Art Festival, Pidginimaginarium, Accra, Ghana
: Sabolai Radio Music Festival, Accra, Ghana
2018: James Town Caf Exhibition, Prince Charles and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall visit to Ghana, Chalewote Street Art Festival, PARAOTHER 2018, Accra, Ghana
: Artist Alliance Gallery, Accra, Ghana
2017: Hos Oona Galleri & Sundhed, Denmark
: Chalewote Street Art Festival, wata mata, Accra, Ghana
: Qaba Exhibition, Alliance Francaise, Accra, Ghana
: Ghana Culture Forum / National Theatre, Accra, Ghana
2016: "Let’s Talk Shit project," Alliance Francaise, Accra, Ghana
: 555 Art Exhibition, Accra, Ghana
: Africa Contemporary Art Gabah, Hamburg, Germany
: Hos Oona Galleri og Sundhed, Vejle, Denmark
: Chalewote Street Art Festival, Spirit Robot, Accra, Ghana
: Dzala Butiq, Brazil House, Accra, Ghana
: Novica Gallery, Accra, Ghana
2015: Golden Tulip Hotel, Accra, Ghana
: Ghana National Museum, Accra, Ghana
: Ghanatta College of Art and Design, Art Center, Accra, Ghana

Bibliography

2025: Crespo, Sofia. "Kwesi Botchway: Royalty On an Off The Canvas," Metal Magazine, November (Link)
: Woodward, Daisy. "Brilliant Things to Do This August," AnOther, August 4 (Link)
2024: Brownell, Gianne. "From Africa to Hong Kong, a Gallery’s Influence Grows," The New York Times, March 20 (Link)
2023: Ahluwalia, Navi. "Ghanaian Painter Kwesi Botchway Explores The Black Gaze In LA Solo Exhibition," HypeBae, June 16 (Link)
: Ghassemitari, Shawn. "Kwesi Botchway Explores the Black Gaze in Latest Exhibition," HypeArt, June 15 (Link)
: Baumgardner, Julie. "‘This Is a Moment They Have to Grab’: How Ghana’s Art Stars Are Building a Movement to Outlast the Speculators and Market Frenzies," Artnet, April 12 (Link)
: O’Leary, Erin. "It’s Time | Vielmetter Los Angeles," Photography, March 1
: Larsson, Chari. "Did pop art have its heyday in the 1960s? Perhaps. But it is also utterly contemporary," The Conversation, February 21 (Link)
: Mousse Magazine Staff. "“It’s Time” at Vielmetter, Los Angeles," Mousse Magazine, February 18 (Link)
: Nys Dambrot, Shana. "A Pair of Exhibitions Renovate Portraiture and Perfection at Vielmetter Los Angeles," LA Weekly, February 9
: Clayton, Dominique. "The Best Black Art Shows in Los Angeles Right Now," Cultured, January 30
2022: Proctor, Rebecca Anne. "Artist-Led Spaces Are Proliferating Around the World, Filling a Gap Caused by Dwindling Public Funding and Market Pressures," ArtNet, December 26 (Link)
: Tali, Selorm. "Kwesi Botchway: Ghanaian artist sells out masterpiece work after days of release," The Pulse, July 14 (Link)
: Opera News Staff. "Kwesi Botchway showcases Captivating Paintings in Brussels," Opera News, May (Link)
: Essien, Vanessa. "Kwesi Botchway: Using Art as a Tool for Change and Inspiring the Next Generation of Artists," Prazzle, March 10 (Link)
: Takac, Balasz. "Kwesi Botchway Celebrates Black Beauty at Maruani Mercier," Widewalls, February 16 (Link)
2021: Stoilas, Helen, Daniel Cassady, Nancy Kenney and Gabriella Angeleti, and Wallace Ludel"New and noteworthy: see what the Armory Show’s younger galleries are bringing to the fair," The Art Newspaper, September 2 (Link)
: Black, Holly. "Kwesi Botchway: “I Wanted Viewers to Appreciate All Different Parts of Me”," Elephant, May 7 (Link)
: Rotinwa, Ayodeji. "As the market for their artists booms, African galleries take control by expanding to the West," The Art Newspaper, April 20 (Link)
: Rotinwa, Ayodeji. "Cool Intentions," Artforum, April 14 (Link)
: Barnes, Ekow. "The Culture List: Celebrating Groundbreaking Black Artists Around The World," Ebony, April 4 (Link)
: Rea, Naomi. "Studio Visit: Kwesi Botchway on the Importance of Painting Faces and Celebrating His Fellow Ghanaian Artists," Artnet, March 30 (Link)
: Kraft, Coralie. "The T List: Five Things We Recommend This Week:," T Magazine, January 7 (Link)
: "Kwesi Botchway," Gallery 1957, DG3 Leycol, London, UK (Catalog)
2020: Emelife, Aindrea. "Kwesi Botchway’s Defiant Figures Examine the Black Experience," Frieze, December 11 (Link)
: Sporn, Stephanie. "For Ghanaian Portraitist Kwesi Botchway, Fashion and Power Go Hand in Hand," Galerie Magazine, November 13 (Link)
: Brady, Anna and Margaret Carrigan. "Our pick of must-see gallery shows opening around the world in November," The Art Newspaper, November 2 (Link)
: Edquist, Grace. "Ghanaian Artist Kwesi Botchway Revels in the Many Colors of Blackness in a New London Show," Vogue, October 27 (Link)

Awards, Residencies, and Grants

2021: Dark Purple is Everything Black, Gallery 1957, Ghana
2020: Gallery 1957 Residency, Accra, Ghana (January – March)
2019: GUBA Awards USA Nominee — Influential Artist

Catalogues and Publications

2023: Botchway, Kwesi and Larry Ossei-Mensah. "Kwesi Botchway: There’s More Than What The Eye Witnesses," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Of Wit Editorial, Small Graphic Projects (exhibition catalogue)
2022: Perrée, Rob and Shaquille Heath. "Rumors of Blackness," MARUANI MERCIER Gallery, Graphius, Brussels, Belgium (exhibition catalogue)

Public Collections

: Arsenal Art Center, Canada
: Belgium High Fashion Foundation, New York, NY
: Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY
: High Fashion Foundation, New York, NY
: Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL
: The Israel Museum, Tel Aviv, Israel
: Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, Canada
: Museum of West African Art, Benin City, Nigeria
: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
: Schulting Art Collection, The Netherlands
: Vanhaerents Art Foundation, Brussels, Belgium
: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA