“Repurposed” solo show at Kuaba Gallery, USA
Artist Patrick Tagoe-Turkson of Ghana is a multidisciplinary artist with his studio based in Takoradi in the Western Region of Ghana. Patrick just returned to Ghana after an extended stay in the USA. His most recent body of work, entitled, Repurposed is on display at the Kuaba Gallery in Carmel, Indiana; the show opened on November 1st and runs thru December 9th. This collection was curated by gallerist, Jayne During. Repurposed is Patrick’s first solo show in the United States. Thirty-two large-format ornately woven tapestries graced the walls of the Kuaba Gallery. Patrick has been working in this unsustainable medium of plastics in the form of recycled beach-collected flip-flops.
Patrick took time from his busy schedule, hanging the show at Kuaba and gallery activities to travel to Cleveland, Ohio, where he was able to share his work with a group of 3rd graders at ArtHouse Inc., a community art center in Cleveland. Twenty eager students are part of a 10-week workshop conducted at ArtHouse, by artist Ron Shelton. Patrick shared his art and the motivation around this global environmental condition that plastic is producing.
[kopa_blockquote border=”left”]” Patrick conveys his commitment to the environment through the medium he chooses; he takes advantage of the ill-nature of man’s careless disregard for how we manage plastic waste. How he transforms the beach waste of flip-flops is ingenious. He breathes new life into a medium that will forever alter our ecosystem’s landscape. He adopts, cuts, gouges, whittles, paints these collected flip-flops and creates remarkable plastic tapestries. It was truly a treat for me to see Patrick’s work up close and personal for the first time. Ron Shelton, USA publisher, High Art Fridays.[/kopa_blockquote]
Patrick is one of Ghana’s most exciting mavericks and internationally recognized contemporary artists who are helping to shape the vibrant contemporary Ghanaian art scene. Patrick’s native Efutu Asafo Flag art of Winneba inspires his work. Its production involves the use of embroidery and appliqué techniques to depict simple imagery of historical events of the Asafo.
Patrick received a Master of Fine Arts Degree from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana, and is currently Senior Lecturer at Takoradi Technical University in Ghana. His work has been exhibited in many countries, including France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Canada, Germany, South Korea, Japan, China, Austria, Mexico, Nigeria, Haiti, South Africa, Romania, Hungary and the United States.
