PABI DANIEL (Ghana) | Untitled, 2023 | Oil, acrylic, paper, 38x28

PABI DANIEL  b. 1999,  Ghana

Pabi is known as a versatile painter and advocate of hyperrealism. An outstanding feature of the artist is the precision in depicting faces, a result of years of sculptural practice, allowing him to create a three-dimensional painting with thick strokes of paint and convey the emotions of the subjects. The artist's painting technique is inspired by the writing symbols used in Akan language - ideograms, called Adinkra. Symbols, aimed at addressing societal issues, Black identity, social and political engagement, are inserted into the gestures recreated in the paintings.

One side of the subject's face depicted by Pabi Daniel is realistic, while the other dissolves into abstract impasto swirls. Through vivid layers of paint resembling burns, scars, and wounds, the true owners of the faces calmly gaze. How can one understand what is reality and what is a picturesque narrative? "The history of the African continent was nothing but a mask," says Pabi Daniel, hoping to lift the carpet of historical dust and depict the flourishing cultural evolution of African peoples.