Michael Gah
Accra born-and-based, contemporary artist Michael Gah is one of Ghana’s most exciting contemporary portraitists. His medium is equally intriguing – fashioning larger-than-life and hyper coloured figurative works using strips of endemic fabrics, the hugely colourful and patterned textiles that are intertwined with the very heart of womanhood in the modern African context. His pieces are a challenge – to social norms for women in Africa and indeed to contemporary art and figurative work; working with fabric and collaging has long been the realm of crafters and his potent portraits are frank in their delivery.
Gah cites not only his mother, but all modern African women, as his inspiration – his faceless (though no less personality-laden) subjects defy traditional ‘African expectations’. They are represented as thoroughly modern muses engaged in social and even romantic activities, that answer only to their own whims and certainly not to the stifling belief systems thrust upon them for eons. The poses are provocative in that they are a far cry from the head and shoulders ‘African Woman’ figurative work, so commonplace on the continent in 20th century art. Gah’s work also references social media and the modern day importance of Instagram reality and camera facing messaging.
The power in Gah’s portraits lies in the intentional tension between past and present and a suggestion that eradication of repressive expectations is inevitable and crucial. The use of traditional fabrics insists on the viewer's mindfulness about outdated norms, while still appreciating the gifts and weight of the past.
Country • GHANA
Medium • MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
First exhibition with christopher moller gallery • 2022
EXPLORE HIS WORK
Previous exhibitions by Michael Gah
2025
Earth in orbit, Group Exhibition, Galerie Weltraum, Munich, Germany.
Wax, Museum show, Musee de L’homme, Paris, France
The International Festival for Creativity, Technology and Innovation, Stadthalle, Chemnitz, Germany.
Textile Biennial Art Fair, Idrija, Slovenia
Oeuvre à base de colleges textiles par, Secret Gallery, Group Exhibition, Paris, France
Centennial - Josephine Baker, Secret Gallery, Group Exhibition, Paris, France
INVESTEC CAPE TOWN ART FAIR, Christopher Moller Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa.— Group Exhibition
2024
INVESTEC CAPE TOWN ART FAIR, Christopher Moller Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa. — Group Exhibition
HFAS16 - Harlem Fine Art Exhibition. Harlem, New York, U.S.A
PAD London Art Fair, Mayfair, London, U.K.
2023
BEAUTIFUL CREATION, Christopher Moller Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa. -Solo Exhibition.
INVESTEC CAPE TOWN ART FAIR, Christopher Moller Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa. - Group Exhibition.
RMB LATITUDES ART FAIR, Christopher Moller Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa. - Group Exhibition.
Residence Cheri(e) Paris France, 2023
2022
AUTUMN IS FRESH, Christopher Moller Gallery, Cape Town, (June) – Group exhibition.
INVESTEC CAPE TOWN ART FAIR, Christopher Moller Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa. - Group Exhibition.
2021
GHANA IN SA, curated by Lungi Morrison & Mawusi Wewobe, Johannesburg, South Africa – Group Exhibition.
Intra Africa Art Fair, 2021
mmARTHouse Gallery, 2021