NYAB Event - George Afedzi Hughes "Layers"

George Afedzi Hughes "Layers"

This event has ended.
At Skoto Gallery
Media: Painting

"Art may not stop violence, but present philosophic examples of human activity as creative alternatives" is one important credo of Ghanaian-born artist George Afedzi Hughes. Connected in several ways with former works, the core topic of his “Layers” series is the ubiquity of violence – in societies, in ecologies and in man as part of nature. Hughes is focusing on the inevitability to escape violence and its related emotional dynamics – and the basic necessity to try it over and over again. His new works are tending to the layers that superimpose blocked-out aspects everywhere in the world. He is bringing up widely tabooed matters nevertheless lurking behind the surface concerning personal experiences as well as historical phenomena like colonialism, current socio-political developments and present-day global conflicts. In short: his work is thematically dominated by visual reminders of the savage side of man and human societies.

Born 1962 in Sekondi (Ghana) and after moving to the US in 1994, Hughes obtained a Master of Fine Arts in Painting/ Drawing Minor from Bowling Green State University (Ohio) in 2001. Since 2006 he is Assistant Professor of Painting at the Visual Studies Department of the University at Buffalo, New York. Painting is an integral part of his creative oeuvre but his artistic activities also include poetry, assemblage and performances. The “layered aspects” of his new series are reflected in the use of materials applied to the canvas in several layers.