On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions
RECENT FIGURATIVE PAINTINGS and works on paper by Otis Quaicoe are on view at the Portland Art Museum, the artist’s adopted hometown museum. Born in Ghana, Quaicoe moved to Portland, Ore., in 2017, joining his new wife in the city where she lived and worked. Over the past five years, his observations of race and Blackness in America and his perspective as an African immigrant have informed his work. Quaicoe’s subjects are friends and “real people with whom he finds connections.” He also has a penchant for Black cowboys. Employing color to express the style and individuality of his subjects, Quaicoe depicts their skin in grayscale against textured backgrounds that call to mind the stucco walls common in Ghanaian homes. The portraits speak to history, contemporary culture, and experiences across the African diaspora. CT
“Otis Quaicoe: (s)kin deep” is on view at the Portland Art Museum in Portland, Ore., from June 18-Dec. 31, 2022
FIND MORE about the exhibition
OTIS QUAICOE (Ghanaian, born 1988), “Man in Red Beret,” 2020 (oil on canvas). | © Otis Quaicoe, Collection of Greg and Cathy Tibbles, L2022.45.1
OTIS QUAICOE (Ghanaian, born 1988), Untitled, 2020 (oil pastels and oil stick on paper). | © Otis Quaicoe, Courtesy of the artist, L2022.46.2
OTIS QUAICOE (Ghanaian, born 1988), Untitled, 2020 (oil pastels and oil stick on paper). | © Otis Quaicoe, Courtesy the artist, L2022.46.1
Otis Quaicoe (Ghanaian,
OTIS QUAICOE (Ghanaian, born 1988), “Ouncie Mitchell,” 2021 (oil and fabric applique on canvas). | © Otis Quaicoe, Courtesy the artist
TOP IMAGE: Installation view of “Otis Quaicoe: (s)kin deep,” Portland Art Museum, Portland, Ore. (June 18-Dec. 31, 2022)
BOOKSHELF
Two gallery publications document recent exhibitions dedicated to Otis Quaicoe: “Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe: Black Rodeo” (2022) and “Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe: Black Like Me” (2020).
