Possibilities by Ishmael Armarh is his first exhibition at the Galerie Ron Mandos. It is the result of a collaboration with the Noldor Residency, Ghana’s first independent artist residency and fellowship program for contemporary African artists on the continent as well as in the Diaspora. Armarh (GH, 1986) is the 2022 Visiting Fellow at the Noldor Residency in Accra, Ghana. The Noldor Residency is happy to confirm that he will be continuing his tenure as their 2023 Junior Fellow officially. The exhibition Possibilities at Galerie Ron Mandos will be on display from 1 October until 13 November, 2022.
Armarh’s work is about the constant dialogue between the Western gaze and the heterogeneous African identity. He seeks to explore this dialogue through references to traditional Ghanaian textile and contemporary forms of fashion. These motives are incorporated into his practice through a distinctive use of bright colors and pointillistic brushstrokes.
It is a deep desire of the artist to reimagine Black existence from an emancipated viewpoint. Whether his figures are in tribal regalia, be it as an Ashanti chief in gold or a local acquaintance in a neoclassical suit wearing a 1970s Dior Masai necklace, his subjects embrace their freedom. Possibilities by Ishmael Armarh comprises a body of work that is aspirational, which is reflected in the very opulence Armarh is depicting in his subjects.
