WIZ KUDOWOR: CELEBRATED GHANAIAN AND PAN-AFRICANIST ARTIST ~ kwekudee-tripdownmemorylaneq

"I strive to satisfy my own whims first in all these attempts hoping eventually to attract mutual minds and interests. There is however room also for the viewer to transcend and relate to my work from his or her own perspective. In other words, I expect the works to prompt and extract a response from those who come into contact with [it], even if negative."~ Wiz Kudowor, celebrated Ghanaian and Pan-Africanist artist.

Wisdom "Wiz" Kudowor, the celebrated Pan-Africanist artist

Wisdom Edinam Kudowor (born September 19, 1957) popularly known in artistic cycle as "Wiz" Kudowor is currently one of Ghana's most respected and applauded contemporary artists.

"Love Cocoon" by Wiz Kudowor

African Encounters posits "Wiz is thought of by some as a trans-cultural visionary. His work simultaneously draws on and pushes beyond fixed spaces and identities in a dynamic search for unbounded universal truths. His recent work typically draws on the deeper meaning of African symbolism and composes from them enigmatic messages with intriguing titles. He has also been producing multi-layered sensual works recently."

"Anchored" (2003) by Wiz Kudowor

Wiz's bold canvases of figures, faces, scenes, and shapes evoke traditional Ghanaian themes while exploring Cubist and Futurist styles. He evades the traditional plane, painting abstract layered pieces with a foam roller and palette knife. “The varied energies in my environment provide an unlimited database for my work,” he says. Employing a unique style that he developed when he started traveling the world, Wiz is widely considered to be a “trans-cultural visionary.”

"I Wait" (1994) by Wiz Kudowor

"Wiz" Kudowor was born in 1957 in Takoradi, the fourth largest city in Ghana, and studied art at the College of Art at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi. He graduated in 1981 with a first class honours degree in fine arts and now lives and works in his artist studio in Dzorwulu, a part of Accra, the capital city of Ghana.

Wiz Kudowor in his art studio working on a painting

Wiz Kudowor has been exhibited in solo and group shows for almost 30 years with exhibitions in Africa, Europe, Asia and the U.S. His works are held in prominent public and private collections like the Ghana National Museum, the Ministry of Culture in the People's Republic of China, the Osaka Prefecture Contemporary Art Collection in Japan and the Africa-America Museum in Dallas, Texas, U.S. One of his widely known artworks is the public Relief Mural at the Kwame Nkrumah Museum in Accra, Ghana, which he installed in 1992.

Icons of life by Wiz Kudowor

Wiz Kudowor is today known as one of the leading contemporary visual artists in his home country Ghana. Some art critics have discovered Cubist and Futurist shapes and designs in his paintings, but despite their modernism the artworks of Wiz Kudowor simultaneously rejuvenate traditional forms and aesthetics of Ghana's cultural history.

Wiz Kudowor uses ancient symbols and aesthetic elements derived from Ghana's rich cultural heritage as an artistic tool to highlight space and structure colourful configurations on his canvasses. Wiz works with a foam roller and a palette knife and creates strongly coloured and intense paintings which combine styles, themes and expressive patterns from different cultural backgrounds in a way which made art experts describe Wiz Kudowor as a "transcultural visionary".

Floral Arrangement

In this short film interview Wiz Kudowor offers insights into his work and talks about his career as an artist, how he chose to become an artist, his art, about his life in general, and about his experiences with the art scenes at home and abroad.

"Persistent of Shame"

All episodes of "The Black Stars of Ghana - Art District" will simultaneously be broadcast on This Is Africa and on Bureau Africa TV's Youtube Channel.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9FVzyp3M84

Wiz kudowor

Source:http://www.wizkudowor.com/Wiz/Bio.html

http://www.modernghana.com/music/22881/3/wiz-kudowor-the-black-stars-of-gha.html

Contact: www.wizkudowor.com

http://www.african-encounters.com/Artist-Wiz-Kudowor_3.aspx

(+233) 21-769016

(+233) 244-876459

(+233) 27-2599999

wizkudowor@yahoo.com

Some artist works of Wiz Kudowor
"When I travelled out to exhibitions, it transformed me into knowing I could tackle other things and not feel guilty about it. You are a human being first, African second. When I freed myself from the trappings of being African, my work became more universal." ~ Wiz Kudowor
Watch more:http://www.wizkudowor.com/Wiz/Gallery.html#2