On today's A Portfolio, we continue to look through our notes and research from various NYC art fairs, and we look at the works of Ghanaian painter Kpe Innocent who had works at Duran/Mashaal's booth at the Future Fair. We remember seeing the artist at The Hole last year, and his works really stood out for both their minimal style and poetic depth.
Via Avant Arte: Kpe Innocent transforms his faith into art – but without the usual symbolism of Western Christian art. His quirky acrylic on canvas paintings show bulbous humanoid figures. Their proportions are exaggerated and dominate their surroundings – large bodies with long limbs and tiny heads. Like the background, the figures are painted in blocks of colour in neutral earthy tones and clean minimalist lines. His work combines contemporary aesthetics like streetwear and modernist architecture, with Christian theology.
For Innocent, his ultimate inspiration comes from his Christian faith, particularly the belief in God as creator. He explains that “through Him I am able to appreciate the process of creation, of producing something tangible and relevant out of nothing.” Innocent’s powerful message is echoed in the affirmative titles he gives to his paintings. Climb in Faith, Cling Onto Hope (2022) shows his signature character at the bottom of a flight of stairs, facing both the physical and metaphorical challenge of the climb. Innocent’s paintings turn the literal and mundane into a moment of reflection on the metaphysical.
