George Afedzi Hughes Explained

George Afedzi Hughes, is a Ghanaian-born American artist specializing in painting, poetry, and performance art.^[1]

Early life and education

George Afedzi Hughes was born on December 23, 1962, in Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana to George Hughes, a journalist and public relations officer for the Takoradi City Council, and Cecilia Hughes, a petty trader. Hughes went to high school at Ghana National College, then studied painting at The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, College of Art (1985–1991), earning a BA in Painting and Drawing in 1989 and an MA in Art Education in 1992.

Hughes lived in London, England from 1991-1993 and relocated to the United States in 1994, receiving his MFA in Painting from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio in 2001. ^[2]

Work

Hughes' paintings and performance artworks have been exhibited internationally across Europe, Africa, Asia, and America. His work references the violence and tragedy of colonialism juxtaposed with contemporary global conflicts. ^[3] ^[4] Common motifs in his paintings include recontextualized language, commonly seen signs and symbols, nods to pop culture, and references to Hughes' cultural background. ^[5]

His performance artworks are interdisciplinary, combining ritual, metaphor, poetry, sound effects, video, and allegorical configurations. ^[6]

Current and ongoing projects include Hughes' series of painted assemblages, "Puzzle Pieces" and Collisions and his series of video interviews with other artists, Focus.

He is represented by the Skoto Gallery in New York City, NY, Artco Kunstagentur GmbH, in Herzogenrath, Germany, and Artists Alliance Gallery, in Accra, Ghana.http://www.artistsallianz.com/artist-profile.php?artistID=6.

The Burchfield Penney Art Center, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Harn Museum of Art, the National Museum of Ghana, and Iwalewahaus have collected Hughes' work.^[7]

Career

Hughes' first teaching position was teaching English Literature at Sekondi College in Sekondi, Ghana from 1982-1984 as part of his national service to Ghana. After, he taught art at St. John's School, Sekondi from 1984-1985. From 1997-2000, Hughes taught Drawing as an adjunct instructor at the University of Toledo. Hughes then worked as an Assistant Professor of Painting for the School of Art at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK, from 2001-2006. He currently resides in Buffalo, NY, where he works for the Art Department at the State University of New York at Buffalo as the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Program Head of Painting, and Associate Professor. ^[8]

Hughes has been an Artist-in-residence at several schools, art centers, and museums in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Europe. These include the Örebro Art College at Örebro University in Sweden, the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (MACM) in Quebec, and the Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland. ^[9]

External links

https://arts-sciences.buffalo.edu/art/faculty/directory/hughes-george.html
https://www.artsy.net/artist/george-afedzi-hughes
http://visualstudies.buffalo.edu/people/hughes/bio.html
https://www.africancontemporary.com/George%20Afedzi%20Hughes.htm
https://burchfieldpenney.org/art-and-artists/people/profile:george-afedzi-hughes/#george-afedzi-hughes
https://huntartgallery.com/artists/profile:george-afedzi-hughes/
http://www.artnet.com/artists/lotdetailpage.aspx?lot_id=C17CB54222CE0949C49D442D56923FF5

Press

https://www.artco-gallery.com/press/23-soccer-meets-colonialism-in-george-afedzi-hughes-paintings/
https://corneliamagazine.com/article-set/George-Hughes
https://www.fredonia.edu/news/articles/exhibition-features-works-13-western-new-york-artists
https://buffalonews.com/multimedia/photos-in-these-truths-exhibition-preview-at-albright-knox-northland/collection_6e8972b4-9107-11ec-9fce-87ccf28bdcb2.html#tracking-source=in-article
https://www.wgrz.com/article/entertainment/in-these-truths-exhibit-opens-at-albright-knox-northland-buffalo/71-ddf168aa-845e-430e-93a5-8e43da43b0d7
https://buffalonews.com/multimedia/photos-in-these-truths-exhibition-preview-at-albright-knox-northland/collection_6e8972b4-9107-11ec-9fce-87ccf28bdcb2.html#tracking-source=in-article
https://www.albrightknox.org/art/exhibitions/these-truths
https://www.observertoday.com/life/entertainment/2022/02/exhibition-features-works-of-13-western-new-york-artists/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/briennewalsh/2021/07/28/cecily-brown-enlivens-a-high-school-in-buffalo-with-a-mural-painted-in-collaboration-with-local-artists/?sh=7c0d46eb6368
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-08-12/the-murals-of-buffalo-s-street-art-renaissance
https://www.buffalorising.com/2021/04/arts-collaboratory-bringing-internationally-renowned-artist-for-new-mural-project/
https://theartmomentum.com/skoto-gallery-the-dynamics-of-success/
http://www.cahiersdufootball.net/article-la-revue-des-cahiers-numero-5-7426
https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/florida/articles/celebrate-the-fifa-world-cup-at-perez-art-museum-miami/
https://www.apollo-magazine.com/art-diary/the-worlds-game-futbol-and-contemporary-art/
https://observer.com/2018/04/perez-art-museum-miami-the-worlds-game-attracts-world-cup-fans/
https://www.buffalospree.com/arts_entertainment/on_view/george-afedzi-hughes-at-bas/article_46745c80-8611-11ed-bd03-5f737ab7f872.html
https://cargocollective.com/artfilemagazine/filter/georgeafedzihughes/George-Afedzi-Hughes
https://www.buffalorising.com/2018/02/george-hughes-the-politics-of-identity-at-buffalo-arts-studio/
https://www.lacma.org/art/exhibition/futbol-beautiful-game
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/arts/design/26art.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/08/t-magazine/travel/accra-ghana-travel.html
https://skotogallery.com/george-afedzi-hughes-collisions/
Lehigh Valley's NPR, "Urban Illusions" interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg_wnOf2cwg&t=640s
Interview with Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF8cfBfjidg&t=2s
Interview with Fowler Museum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzRKmNGsdUE&t=95s

Bibliography

Obiago, Sandra Mbanefo, "A King’s Passion: A 21st-Century Patron of African Artists". (2024). 5-Continents Editions.
Prah, Elizabeth, and Akoi-Jackson, Bernard, "New Perspectives: Contemporary Art from Ghana". (2024). Nuvo Publishing.
Olivia von Gries and Robert Bailey, “Archival Assembly: The Black Artists of Oklahoma Project and Art-Historical Infrastructure,” Panorama: Journal of the Association of Historians of American Art 9, no. 1 (Spring 2023), pg. 3
Sofo, Elijah, African Arts, Volume 56 (4).(2023), p. 42-61. University of California, Los Angeles. (ISSN 0001-9933)
Dima, Vlad, "The Beautiful Skin: Football, Fantasy, and Cinematic Bodies in Africa". (2020). Michigan State University Press. eBook.
Daly, Samuel Fury Childs, "A History of the Republic of Biafra: Law, Crime, and the Nigerian Civil War" (2020). p. 4. Cambridge University Press.
Haxall, Daniel, "Picturing the Beautiful Game: A History of Soccer in Visual Culture and Art" (2018). Bloomsbury Publishing.
Cooksey, Susan, African Arts, Volume 51 (3).(2018), p. 9. University of California, Los Angeles. (ISSN 0001-9933)
Hovey, Werntz, and White, "Sports and Violence: History, Theory, and Practice" (2017). pp. 18-19. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Doran, Ross and Forni, Silvia, "Art, Honor, and Ridicule: Asafo Flags from Southern Ghana" (2016). pp. 22-35. Pub: Royal Ontario Museum.
Savage, Polly, "Making Art in Africa: 1960-2010" (2014). Pub: Lund Humphries.
Kwami, Atta, "Kumasi Realism, 1951-2007: An African Realism" (2013). Pub: Hurst.
Helmut Anheier, Yudhishthir Raj Isar, "Cultural Expression, Creativity & Innovation" (2010), pp. 62–77. Sage Publications Ltd.
Jegede, Dele, Encyclopedia of African American Artists (2009), pp. 109–112. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
Razdow, Max. "S&M Live!" ArtUS, no. 26, Spring 2009, p. 55. Gale Academic OneFile. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A202254869/AONE?u=nysl_oweb&sid=googleScholar&xid=44c174ba.
Svasek Maruska (2007). Anthropology, Art and Cultural Production, pp. 116–122. London: Pluto Press.
Doran Ross (2001). African Arts, Volume 34., pp. 50–57. University of California, Los Angeles. (ISSN 0001-9933)
Kaiser, Franz, "Museum Paper" (9/29/01). p. 2
Underwood, J. L. (2018). [Review of Art, Honor, and Ridicule: Asafo Flags from Southern Ghana, by S. Forni]. African Arts, 51(2), 89–92. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48547471