Artist: William Kwamena-Poh | Location: Savannah, GA
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Artist: William Kwamena-Poh | Location: Savannah, GA
Savannah, GA
Originally from Ghana, West Africa, I moved to the United States in 1980 when my father accepted a Fulbright Scholarship to teach African History at Talladega College in Alabama. I understudied with James Huff who was the art professor at the College at the time who taught me how to see light and use diagonal lines. After graduating with a degree in Sociology, I moved to Washington DC for a year where I interacted with a few well-known African American artists, who instilled in me the need to create a body of work and develop my own style. After a year I moved to Chicago, IL, and worked on building and developing my own artistic style.
In 1995, I moved to Savannah, Georgia and established a studio in Citymarket and have exhibited my works throughout the United States doing art shows.
I work with gouache which is opaque watercolor using the dry brush technique. My paintings focus on presenting the viewer with a window to the African continent through the eyes of someone who was born there and is part of the culture. I paint primarily images of fishermen, children, women and market scenes. I have been able to garner acclaim by winning numerous awards at shows such as Best of show, Mount Dora Festival of Arts, Florida, First Place in Watercolor 2016, Coconut Grove Festival of Art and Best of Show 2015 Sunfest, West Palm Beach. My works are in corporate collections such as Ford Motors, Disney, Amoco corporation and private collections of Angela Basset, and Forest Whittaker.