Joshua Donkor | RESIDENCY CATALOGUE

JOSHUA DONKOR

2023 RESIDENCY CATALOGUE

ABOUT

Between December '22 and January '23, Ghanaian-British painter Joshua Donkor took up residency in the Bankside Hotel Art Yard Studio managed by DegreeArt com & Contemporary Collective During his time in residence, Joshua expanded upon his signature artistic process of visual narration in which he looks at people and stories as the main inspiration for his work.

He specifically focussed on developing his new body of work, ‘I Have More Souls Than One', which seeks to explore transcultural and African Diaspora experiences in the Western world and how this is felt through the different generations of family

Joshua describes the inspiration behind this concept:

“This project stemmed from my most recent journey back to Ghana at the start of 2022 with my cousin As we have grown older our relationship with Ghana has continued to evolve 2022 represented somewhat of a passing of the torch as my cousin was expected to take on more responsibilities within her family This brought into focus many questions about our relationship and connection to Ghana as members of the African Diaspora

Although we have grown up with many Ghanaian cultural influences within our lives, unlike our parents and those before, we have not grown up there This has led to a feeling of slight disconnection from our heritage, felt most notably whenever we return "

NOTABLE ACHIEVMENTS

Artist in Residency, Bankside Hotel London, with DegreeArt and Contemporary Collective

REALM Group Show, The Bingham Riverhouse, DegreeArt com,

Interview with Raphael Dapaah for Art Plugged

Interview on Soho radio with Maeve Doyle

Sky Portrait Artist of the Year: The Exhibition at the Compton Verney Gallery

The World Reimagined - Travelling Exhibition

The Signature Art Prize, Painting Category Winner (by DegreeArt com)

TUC Roots and Culture Virtual Exhibition

The Next Big Thing Exhibition, The Old Design Museum

Selected to feature in the documentary series “The Next Big Thing” and awarded the Judges Prize

Figurative Art Now, the Federation of British Painters

“Awakening” at Noho Studios Gallery, London

Recipient of the Artist Benevolent Fund Step Change Program Fellowship, 2020

Winner of the AOI Member Awards and a “Highly Commended Award” in World Illustration Awards

Featured in Sky Portrait Artist of the YeaR

Featured in The AOI 10 UK Graduates to watch

The Blue Stag Top 10 Creative Graduates in Wales

Featured Artwork in BBC’S “Staged"

Cardiff Metropolitan Virtual Degree show Exhibition

Turner Trophy awarded for painting “Fading memories” exhibited at the Mayor of Bath Exhibition 2019

ARTIST BIO

Joshua Donkor (b.1997) is a GhanaianBritish painter whose work uses portraiture as a tool to subvert monolithic portrayals of Black identity. Joshua approaches portraiture as a collaborative exercise between him and his sitters. His process involves meeting with the subjects of his paintings on multiple occasions and going through their personal effects and photographs.

Joshua works with them to identify the images that most potently convey the details of their personal narrative, including family photos, fabrics, and personal belongings. Each portrait he paints includes both the image of the sitter, as well as layered visual references to all of the items they picked out together

The material depth of the paintings comes about through Joshua’s method of transferring layer after layer onto the surfaces of his paintings. Using a range of different painting and printing and layering techniques, he literally embeds the histories of his sitters into the work.

Although the subject matter of Joshua’s paintings is deeply personal and completely idiosyncratic often having to deal with specific African roots and the individual experiences specific people have had growing up Black in Western societies all types of viewers have been able to respond deeply to the images Somehow, widely relatable content is communicated through the specificity of the images

IMAGE TRANSFER

JOSHUA'S SIGNATURE STYLE ENCOMPASSING TWO PRIMARY SUB TECHNIQUES: GLOSS MEDIUM TRANSFERS & ACETONE TRANSFERS

GLOSS MEDIUM TRANSFERS

"This technique creates a very clear collage-like image transfers I often use this technique within my work to highlight particularly significant images within the composition The technique is extremely versatile and can be used on a range of materials from board, paper, canvas and even T-shirts It requires the application of a gloss medium on both the surface of the image and the material to which it is being transferred onto It will then need roughly 40 minutes drying time which might provide a good moment to take a break for refreshments

Following this paper on the back of the image will need to be delicately removed by gently rubbing away at the paper with water This will leave a completed image transfer During the workshop participants can decide to use these transfers in whichever way they want They could be incorporated into a piece of artwork or even a blank T-shirt "

ACETONE TRANSFER

"This technique creates a very different type of image transfer which often appears far less ob vious and somewhat ghostly depending on the pressure used during the process It may be best to only give a demonstration for this because acetone can be quite a harmful chemical Masks and gloves will be required This process involves applying acetone to a laser printed image which is then pressed against the board or canvas whilst pressure is applied The clarity of the transfer is determined by the amount of pressure that is applied. For the demonstration, I can use one of the portraits which I will be working on over the course of the residency Participants could also be invited to give this process a go whilst I am demonstrating "

SOCIAL

For the duration of his residency, Joshua took over the @ContemporaryCollective Instagram account to document his experience in the studio space

The takeover featured process shots and final artworks to provide insight into the artist’s creative process, as well as weekly summaries including video clips of various activities taking place in the residency space and the development of ongoing work

COMMUNITY

A key element of the residencies is for the artist in residence to interact with guests,visitors and passerby

Joshua hosted two Visual Storytelling Workshop and an Image Transfer Workshop to further engage the community with his artistic processes

With the goals of sharing and talking about the different ways people have navigated these spaces, Joshua hopes to continue having these conversations with people he meets whilst in residency and create a series of portraits mapping individuals’ experiences spanning across the diaspora, time periods and generations within families Taking a collaborative approach, Joshua plans to engage with hotel guests and staff, as well as the general public, to facilitate an open and inclusive conversation Further expanding on this, Joshua plans to collaborate with local artists in the area in the creation of new works

THE RESIDENCY COLLECTION

I HAVE MORE SOULS THAN ONE, ECHOS IN THE PRESENT

Oil paint, Graphite and image transfers on circular board

100 x 100 cm

£4,000.00

KWAME, I HAVE MORE SOULS THAN ONE

£4,000.00

Oil paint, Graphite and image transfers on board

90 x 70 cm

ALIYHA. SNAPSHOT

'Oil paint, Graphite and image transfers on circular board

70 x 70 cm

£5,000.00

I HAVE MORE SOULS THANONE. ALIYAH, SPIRAL OF THOUGHT

Oil paint, graphite and image transfers on board 90 x 70 cm

SOLD

I HAVE MORE SOULS THAN ONE

Oil paint, graphite and image transfers on board 90 x 70 cm

£3,000.00

BETWEEN THE TWO MY HEART IS BALANCED

£2,000.00

Oil paint, graphite and image transfers on Fabriano paper

50 x 40

I HAVE MORE SOULS THAN ONE, ECHOES

Graphite, oil paint and image transfer on canvas 120 x 100

£3,000.00

Oil paint on stretched canvas

60 x 40 cm

£1,500.00

SIMON OF CYRENE

ANCESTERAL FOUNDATIONS, KELVIN GYAMFI

Oil paint, graphite and image transfers on board

50 x 40 cm

£2,200.00

ANCESTRAL FOUNDATIONS, WINDRUSH LEGACY

Oil paint, graphite and image transfers on board

60 x 40

£2,000.00

Oil paint on wooden panel 20 x 15 cm

£800.00

Graphite and charcoal on Fabriano paper

30 x 21 cm framed

£800.00

AB SOUL, ICARUS

I HAVE MORE SOULS THAN ONE: REAP WHAT YOU SOW

Oil paint, graphite and image transfers on canvas 120 x 90 cm framed

£8,000.00

WORKS IN PROGRESS

'I have more souls than one. Generations.' Oil, graphite and image transfers on canvas. 120 x 100 cm framed

£8,000.00

'I have more souls than one. The Professor.' Oil, graphite and image transfers on circular board. 70 x 70 cm

£5,000.00

'I have more souls than one. Vic.'

Oil, graphite and image transfers on circular board.

70 x 70 cm

£5,000.00

COMMISSIONS YOUR BESPOKE PORTRAIT BY THE ARTIST & EXMPLES

Joshua Donkor is available to commission to create a bespoke painting oof your chosen subject and sitter

Joshua's process involves a pre agreed series of informal interviews where he gets to know the sitter and their personal journey and history

You supply the photographs (copies or originals) for him to then incorporate into your painting

To discuss a commission with us, please just get in touch for a chat about your ideas.

Isobel Beauchamp, Gallery Director

Isobel@DegreeArt com/ 07708 251 686

Last year I was delighted to be asked to create two portraits of Jay Blades well known as the presenter of The Repair Shop amongst many other wonderful endeavours

I wanted to create two distinctly different portraits

This piece was intended to focus on the significance of community within Jays life

The images imbedded within this portrait come from Jays personal archives and represent the communities and people who have been a part of his journey so far

From the short time we spent with him, it was evident how important a role this has played in his life Even when doing a photo shoot with in Portobello Road, he made sure to take the time to chat with everyone who came by and recognised him