Ghanaian art gallery travels through RVA
Patrons shop and admire artwork created by Ghanaian artists at the Deadly Prey Pop-up hosted by the Pamplemousse Gallery. Photo by Victor Romanko.
Braxton Hare, Spectrum Editor
Deadly Prey Gallery, a Chicago-based traveling art gallery with roots in Accra, Ghana, hosted a one night only pop-up exhibition on April 18 at the Pamplemousse Gallery, according to a Deadly Prey Gallery Instagram post.
The organization was founded by Brian Chankin in partnership with his best friend, Robert Kofi, to preserve, archive and educate people about these amazing paintings from Ghana, while continuing to directly support the artists in Ghana still working in the genre today, according to their website.
The Deadly Prey Gallery houses and archives a unique collection of over 1000 posters spanning a 30-plus year history. Commission opportunities, original paintings, prints, books and more are available with 100% of merch profits going to the artists, according to their website.
The event featured custom movie posters made by many artists, including Heavy J, Mr. Nana Agyq and Nii Bi Ashitey.
Every painting is a one-of-a-kind, present-day evolution of original movie posters painted for the Ghanaian mobile cinema from the late-1980s to the mid-2000s.
By sewing together used flour sacks, a perfectly sized canvas for an oversized movie poster was created. Though a specific poster might only be 15-20 years old, its appearance will far surpass its actual age due to the elemental toll one takes from constant transit, being rolled, folded and left in the sun and rain, according to their website.
The pop-up tour included four other cities besides Richmond, including Cincinnati, Ohio, Knoxville, Tenn., Washington, D.C. and Pittsburgh, Pa.
Heavy J, one of the featured Ghanaian artists, has been painting movie posters in Ghana since the mid-1990s. He’s been making commission paintings with Deadly Prey Gallery, then Odd Obsession Movies since 2012, according to the commissions page on the Deadly Prey Gallery website.
Mr. Nana Agyq, another featured artist, started painting movie posters in the late-1990s. He’s been making commission paintings with Deadly Prey Gallery since 2012, according to the commissions page on the Deadly Prey Gallery website.
Nii Bi Ashitey, an additional featured artist, has been painting movie posters in Ghana since the mid-2000s after apprenticing under Heavy J. He’s been making commission paintings with Deadly Prey Gallery since 2019, according to the commissions page on the Deadly Prey Gallery website.
You can support these artists and the Deadly Prey Gallery by purchasing original artworks, prints, books or merchandise on the Gallery Shop website or by following deadlypreygallery on Instagram for updates, tour stops and artist features.
