BIOGRAPHY
(b. 1964 Kumasi, Ghana)
Godfried Donkor is a British-Ghanaian mixed-media artist interested in the socio-historical relationships of Africa and Europe.
Born in Kumasi, Ghana in 1964, Donkor left at the age of eight, growing up between Spain and England before completing a BA in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins, London and an MA in African Art History at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London.
Donkor’s work is included in international collections such as: Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Smithsonian Museum of African Art - Washington D.C; Studio Museum, Harlem; Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester; Spanish Sports Council Collection; National Collection of Senegal; University of Helsinki; and National Gallery of Botswana.
Selected group and solo exhibitions include: David Adjaye: Making Memory, Design Museum, London (2019);The First Day of the Yam Custom: 1817, Gallery 1957, Accra (2017); Afriques Capitales, Parc de la Villiette, Paris (2017); and Still the Barbarians, EVA International Ireland’s Biennial, Limerick (2016).
He lives and works across London, UK and Accra, Ghana.
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Born 1964, Kumasi, Ghana
Lives and works in London, UK
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2019 - Upcoming
Working title: Battle Royale: Last Man Standing, Gallery 1957, Accra, Ghana, 24 August - 5 October
2017
The First Day of the Yam Custom: 1817, curated by Koyo Kouoh, Gallery 1957, Accra, Ghana
2011
People of Utopia, Artco gallery, London
2010
The fives court, Fred Gallery, London
2009
The Olympians and Muses, Afronova Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
Story of a London township, Space, London, UK
2008
State of the Union, T1 + 2 Gallery, London, UK
Once upon a time in the west, there was lace, Wollaton Hall Nottingham, UK
2007
Financial Times, Gorre Festival, Gorre Island, Senegal
Abolition 07, Hackney Museum, London , UK
2006
The Sable Venus and the Black Madonna, Gallerie 23, Amsterdam, Holland
Jamestown Masquerade, Walsh metal works, St Croix, USVI
2005
Concerto in light and Darkness no 1, National Museum, Ghana
2004
Godfried Donkor, Pascal Polar Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
2004
Financial Times, Ecole Regionale des beaux Artes, Nantes, France
2003
The Fancy, Stephen Lawrence Gallery, London, UK
Godfried Donkor, Recent works, The Scene Gallery, NY, USA
2002
Godfried Donkor, Albrecht Durer Kunstverein, Nuremberg, Germany
2001
Handel and Hogarth at Vauxhall pleasure gardens, St Peters Church, London, UK
Artists in Residence exhibition, IASPIS, Stockholm, Sweden
2000
Whose Africa, Horniman Museum, London, UK
Wrestling and Mysticism, Dak’Art 2000, Dakar, Senegal
1999
Slave to Champ, E M A C A, Nottingham, UK
Selected Group Exhibitons
2020
The Portrait Show, Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg
2019
David Adjaye: Making Memory, Design Museum, London, UK
2018
African Metropolis: An Imaginary City, MAXXI, Rome, Italy
2017
Afriques Capitales, Parc de la Villiette, Paris, France
2016
Still the Barbarians, EVA International Ireland’s Biennial, Limerick, Ireland
2015
Streamlines, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany
2014-2016
Conversations: African and African American artworks in Dialogue, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington, USA
2014-2015
Speaking of people, Ebony, Jet and contemporary Art,Studio Museum, Harlem, USA
2014-2015
How far how near, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Holland
2013
Hollandaise, Raw Material Company, Dakar, Senegal
2012
Cologne Paper Art, Cologne, Germany
Aus Afrika,Galerie Frank Schlag & Cie. Essen, Germany
Hollandaise, Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Holland
Black Germany, Haus de Kunst, Munich, Germany
Boxe, Fondation Blachere, Apt, France
Moving into space: Football and Art in West Africa, National Museum of Football, Manchester, UK
Gold, Museum Belvedere, Austria
28 days: Reimagining black history month, J M .Barnicke gallery/Georgia Scherman projects, Toronto, Canada
2011
Interpretations of Africa, football and design, Design Museum, UK
Alias, Krakaw Photomonth, Krakaw, Poland
Art on Poetry, Saison Poetry Library, South Bank, London, UK
'as it is ', Africa Applauded, Mojo Gallery, Dubai
2010
III World festival of Black arts and Cultures, Dakar, Senegal
Space and Currencies, Museum of Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa
2009
Landfall, Docklands Museum, London, UK
2007-2008
Trade Winds, Docklands Museum, London , UK
Trade and Empire: Remembering Slavery, The Whitworth Art Gallery , UK
2004
Pin Up, Tate Modern, London, UK
Collections
Studio Museum, Harlem
Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
Spanish Sports Council Collection
National Collection of Senegal
Smithsonian Museum of African Art - Washington D.C.
The World Bank Collection, Washington D.C
ArtOmi international artist collection
Unilever Collection
University of Helsinki
National Gallery of Botswana
Education
1994 – 1995
School of Oriental and African Studies, London, UK
- A. African Art History
1991 - 1992
Escolla Massana, c/ Hospital, Barcelona, Spain
Fine Art Painting Post Graduate Studies
1984 - 1989
Central St Martins College of Art, London, UK
- A. Hons Fine Art
