Patrick William Dodoo’s Art exhibition dubbed “Black Age Series” will leave you BREATHLESS!
As the new year begins with crisp possibilities ahead, Patrick William Dodoo has ushered his attendees into a new era of fresh perspective on the self and reflections on black art culture with an art exhibition opening reception dubbed “Black Age Series”. The exhibition, an event with attendance exclusively via VVIP invitation brought together seasoned industry players and the young alike with a great collection of artworks to behold!
The exhibition not only outdoors the great artistic skills of Patrick and served as his first solo exhibition, but also honored one of Ghana’s World War II Veterans Joseph Ashitey Hammond who opened up to the audience about his life and experience during WWII and the scars it left behind, discussing further into the subject, The 98-year old WWII Hero expressed great joy with regards to the artwork presented to him by Patrick William Dodoo and how emotional he felt receiving such priceless honour enclosed within the artwork.
The exhibition which is presently on display at Gyandu Place in East Legon and will remain there till January 5th, 2023, nods to the Black Identity era within the art scene. The exhibition saw the artworks in two strands, one black and white with a few slashed in gold depicting the realistic vision of the subjects in his body of work which encompasses minute details in the form and texture of the skin. With an emphasis on the skin’s finer characteristics, such as wrinkles, dimples, and markings, the artist aims to capture the beauty of all struggles, challenges, hope, and the path toward a brighter future.
In the second strand of his paintings are elements in which he employed vivid colors to signify the hopeful and fruitful outcomes of all journeys, a volunteering reverence to the United Nations’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) acknowledged by the African Union (AU). The Black Age Series, which consists of works created over a four-year period, is Patrick’s colorful and approachable way of expressing the beauty in everyone’s life journey, smooth or otherwise.
During the art exhibition and introduction section to the public, one attendee asked Patrick his opinion on rumors which highlights that from a perspective, it seems all artists in Ghana are painting the same thing and creating art pieces in one way, Patrick responds with gentle words reminding the attendee and all present that art is subjective and is mostly encouraged by the feelings of each individual artist. He further added that Ghanaian artists are all not doing the same thing, but due to the shared experience of National Identity and environment, it may seem Ghanaian artists are all doing the same kind of work although each individual interpretation of every art piece varies – thus a notion someone may have if say they should travel to the United States, Europe or South Africa and had to categorize artwork by artists within that shared space.
With each piece of artwork exhibited is a breath that was taken away as attendees gashed in sheer delight. During my course of taking photographs for this article, one of the attendees named ‘Tiana’ mistook me as one of the curators of the exhibition and asked me if Patrick indeed painted all the artworks displayed, in my amusement, I responded with who I was and followed up with her reason for asking if Patrick indeed painted the works, and her response is one which echoed the very essence of the talent and skills bestowed on Patrick. She responded “Patrick and I used to be classmates, I am now a teacher but for what is it worth, I never imagined that he was this gifted and talented Artist! These artworks are just a marvel to behold, the exquisite attention to details and the beauty of the contents itself, I wonder if he painted from imagination or had a reference to the effect.”
Connoisseurs that attended the VVIP event had a great and amazing time as most of the young and old spent more than a handful of minutes admiring each painting with others taking selfies against the artworks while the remaining few recorded videos for personal engagements.
Patrick William Doodo, also known as the corporate artist is a graduate of The University of Education, Winneba, and has been a prolific painter for the past 16 years working mainly in the acrylic medium. More about Patrick William Dodoo and his corporate painting can be seen via his official website www.patrickwilliamdodoo.com
