Biography
Kwadwo Amfo was born in 1990, in Ghana
He lives and works in Amsterdam
Kwadwo Amfo established an early interest in art making while growing up which led him to be enrolled into the Visual Arts department in secondary school and did his elective courses in Textiles, Graphic Design, General Knowledge in Art and English Literature. While in secondary school, Amfo developed his love for textile and graphic design while re-enforcing his interest in photography/filmmaking and realised that the two can go hand in hand as he pursued photography (Fiction) at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague.
Social commentary became the base of Amfo’s work throughout the years ranging from societal beauty standards, identity politics, social inclusion and conformity, and topics on the self and the other. Amfo has expanded this into works that speak representations of misrepresentations, stereotypes and struggles of people of colour. Amfo’s decision to almost exclusively depict black characters, individuals of African heritage, reflects his desire, born of his own experiences, to bring to the fore the inadequate and troubling representations of black people in today’s media, as well as throughout history. In this way their blackness is both a reminder of his search for truth and a microcosm of how the societies in which we live construct the value systems that affect us all.
Use of video media in the virtual space and augmented reality is a new feature in Amfo’s ever expanding creative process. Amfo has broadly exhibited his work at the Scotia Bank Contact Photo Festival in Toronto, in Netherlands and Ghana.
CV
Education
- 2022 BA Design (Photography) / Royal Academy of Arts / The Hague, NL
- 2011 Diploma / Graphic Communication / National Institute of Technology / Accra, GH
Selected Solo Exhibitions
- 2022 SILHOUETTE, Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, NL
- 2021 LISSOM, The Grey Space in the Middle, The Hague, NL
- 2016 Walk A Mile in My Shoes, The Studio, Accra, GH
- 2015 DIPO, Rites of Passage, CONTACT Photography Festival, Toronto, CA
Screenings
- 2022 SILHOUETTE, Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, NL
- 2021 OBRA, EYE Research Lab, EYE Film Museum, Amsterdam, NL
- 2017 BOLGATANGA, Documentary film on Ghanaian Fashion, VLISCO, Accra, GH
- 2015 ‘Get Started’, Nescafe Ad Campaign film, Cannes Film Festival (Nominated), Cannes, FR
Commissions
- 2022 VOGUE NL, Wedding Edition, fashion editorial
VOLKSKRANT MAGAZINE, Kim van Kooten en Jacob Derwig
Mr PORTER Magazine + Wandler, fashion editorial - 2021 FILLING PIECES, Bridging the Gap, campaign
NETFLIX NL, Sex Education, fashion editorial
HARPERS BAZAAR NL, We zijn familie, fashion editorial
LINDA magazine, 210 edition Cover
LINDA Meiden, Dream Big edition
Publications
VOGUE LIVING NEDERLAND, Summer in the City, Print
Volkskrant Magazine, Kim van Kooten, Print
LINDA magazine, 210 edition Cover, Print
LINDA Meiden, Dream Big edition, Print
Harpers Bazaar, ‘In my Body’, editorial, Print
L’HOMO: LE BOOK + MENDO, Celebration of diversity publication, Print