Larry OTOO: rhythm and beat of daily life | Vibrant Colours | 13/4 - 26/5 | OOA Gallery | Barcelona

VIBRANT COLOURS | Larry OTOO

13 April – 26 May 2019 | Barcelona - Spain

Red Stall - 2018 |

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Umbrella Festival - 2019 |

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Market Square - 2018-2019 |

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Blue Trek - 2018 |

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Colourful Market - 2018 |

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Town Reflection - 2018 |

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Jazz Road Map - 2019 |

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Blow Jazz - 2019 |

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Face Lift - 2010 |

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Lady sings the blues - 2017 |

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Market Queens - 2017 |

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Biography |

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Larry OTOO | Vibrant colours

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One of the most well known painters in Ghana today, Larry Otoo likes to refer to himself as a “contemporary traditionalist”. Born in Accra, Ghana in 1956, his subject matter is inspired by the everyday activities of ordinary Ghanaians. His vibrant paintings in oil and acrylic capture the rhythm and beat of daily life. He paints, he says, “to record and preserve our traditions visually”.

Vivid spots of acrylic fill his large canvasses, their vibrant hues combining to form dazzling African scenes, scenes that Otoo says are impossible to truly replicate."The scenes I paint, the markets, the crowds, you can never wholly capture them because they are always changing, You can never finish painting them, my aim can only be to capture the tempo" Larry explains. Otoo's paintings are on the surface a disordered mass of colourful slices and shapes, impactful and vibrant. It's only when the viewer steps back that they are hit with the energy of a market, the sacred unity of a mass prayer, a townscape of roofs illuminated to a vivid red by the hot African sun.

He often bases his palette around three primaries. Some of his paintings consist of only these three colours. Typically he lightens the blue while leaving the red and yellow more or less saturated. The effect of paler blue is to raise the pitch of the colour cord, to combine effect of the three colours and to introduce light into an abstract harmony. His subjects include traditional groups of drummers, dancers, market crowds… his interest in music is vital

to his work. Otoo’s figures, occasionally almost cartoon-like, transform into abstract rhythms, invoking jazz.

Larry Otoo is one of a number of West African artists who seek in their paintings a language for personal experience. He’s courageous in his experimentations. He plunders here and there from both African and European sources in a way that has become healthy and normal for any international artist. But he always spirals back in on the African mysteries, rejoicing in it totally, like some improvising musician who spins out from and then return, inevitably, to his theme.

The artist, Larry Otoo (Ghana)

Larry OTOO | Vibrant colours

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Red Stall | 2018 | 114cm H x 143cm W | Acrylic on canvas | Price: 4.800€

Larry OTOO | Vibrant colours

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Umbrella Festival | 2019 | 121cm H x 151cm W | Acrylic on canvas | Price: 5.000€

Larry OTOO | Vibrant colours

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Market Square | 2018-2019 | 121cm H x 139cm W | Acrylic on canvas | Price: 4.800€

Larry OTOO | Vibrant colours

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Blue Trek | 2018 | 121cm H x 151cm W | Acrylic on canvas | Price: 4.800€

Larry OTOO | Vibrant colours

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Colourful Market | 2018 | 101cm H x 151cm W | Acrylic on canvas | Price: 4.300€

Larry OTOO | Vibrant colours

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Town Reflection | 2018 | 120cm H x 151cm W | Acrylic on canvas | Price: 4.900€

Larry OTOO | Vibrant colours

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Jazz Road Map | 2019 | 120cm H x 182cm W | Acrylic on canvas | Price: 5.000€

Larry OTOO | Vibrant colours

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Blow Jazz | 2019 | 119cm H x 144cm W | Acrylic on canvas | Price: 4.400€

Larry OTOO | Vibrant colours

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Face Lift | 2010 | 118cm H x 146cm W | Acrylic on canvas | Price: 4.600€

Larry OTOO | Vibrant colours

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Lady sings the blues | 2017 | 115cm H x 145cm W | Acrylic on canvas | Price: 4.800€

Larry OTOO | Vibrant colours

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Market Queens | 2017| 104cm H x 105cm W | Acrylic on canvas | Price: 2.900€

Larry OTOO | Vibrant colours

Larry Otoo holds a Master’s degree in African Art and Comparative Literature from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. He has been making art since he was a child, when he used to be scolded for drawing in charcoal on the walls. Larry Otoo is widely collected and has an international following. He has held exhibitions in Africa -Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria-, Europe -The Netherlands, Great-Britain, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Denmark and Spain-, Canada, the USA and Japan. He was chosen “Artist of the Year“ in Ghana in ‘87. His paintings decorate Ghana’s presidential suite and Ghana’s chancery in Washington, D.C.

Solo shows

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2019 | Vibrant Colours - OOA Gallery - Barcelona, Spain2018 | Melcom Art Exhibition with Larry Otoo - Achimota - Accra, Ghana

2017 | Sight and Style - Labone - Accra, Ghana Art Exhibition with Larry Otoo - Holiday Inn Hotel - Accra, Ghana

2016 | Gallery My Trunk – Denmark2015 | Gallery My Trunk – Denmark

2011 | AfroJazz – OOA Gallery, Sitges – Spain Happy in Segovia, Residency - Galeria Afrika, Segovia

2009 | Meet the Artist Exhibition - Alliance Francaise, Accra, Ghana2008 | End-of-Residency Show, Vermont Studio Centre, Johnson, VT2006 | Larry Otoo - Headlines Hospitality, Accra, Ghana2005 | Watershed - Pictorialist Studio, Accra, Ghana2004 | Contemporary Encounters - Kuaba Gallery, Indianapolis, USA2002 | Isn't It Romantic: Flowers - Leasafric, Accra, Ghana2000 | Colours of Life - Mmofra Foundation, Accra, Ghana1997 | Retrospective - National Theatre, Accra, Ghana1993 | Larry Otoo - Beaux Arts Gallery, Trinity House, Accra, Ghana

Larry OTOO | Vibrant colours

1992 | Collector's Items - Goethe Institut, Accra, Ghana1988 | Otoo '88 - British Council, Accra, Ghana

1987 | Holland Calling - University of Ghana, Legon / with KLM airlines Fontomfrom - Goethe Institut, Accra, Ghana Impressionism Africa - Arts Circle Gallery, Munich, Germany

1983 | Culture Recalled - The Loom, Accra, Ghana1981 | Courage in Heritage – USIS American Center

Group shows

2019 | Art exhibition of Silk Road Language of Art - Confucius Institute of Ghana - Embassy of the people's Republic of Ghana

2018 | 8 artists @ Marriot Hotel - Airport City - Accra, Ghana An exhibiiton of paintings @ The Accra International Conference Center - Deutsch Welle and Multi- Media Group of Companies - Accra, Ghana Tiga Art Gallery / Stanchart Bank @ Kempenski Hotel - Accra, Ghana Gallery My Trunk Exhibitions - Aarhus, Denmark

2017 | Gallery My Trunk Exhibitions - Aarhus, Denmark - Exhibition for Ford Foundation Delegation at the Artist Alliance Gallery - Accra, Ghana Sight & Style – Larry Otoo & Haila Sabah (Designer’s wardrobe)

2015 | An exhibition of paintings by 6 Ghanaian artists - St Petersburg & Moscow, Russia2013 | Mar & Música – Larry Otoo & Kobina Nyarko – OOA Gallery, Sitges - Spain

2010 | Pulse the Pulse: Portrait of Accra - ACC Gallery, Weimar, Germany Jamestown Mantse Exhibition - Goethe Institut, Accra, Ghana

2009 | Nsoroma: Legacy of Joe Nkrumah - Dei Centre, Accra, Ghana2006 | Four Ghanaian Artists - Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping Training Centre (KAIPTC)

2002 | Ghana - S.B.K. Kunsthal, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Body Electric (Valentine Show) - National Theatre, Accra, Ghana

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Larry OTOO | Vibrant colours

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2001 | Just Women - Artists Alliance, Accra, Ghana Akwaaba - Basilica del Santo, Padova, Italy African Strides - Mmili Nma Center (opening), Lagos, Nigeria

2000 | Save our Soul 51st Anniversary - Novotel, Accra, Ghana A Slice of Contemporary African Art - Gallery B: Fors, Stockholm and Frederiksberg City Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark

1999 | 4-Man Show - Leasafric, Accra, Ghana 30th Anniversary - The Loom Gallery, Accra, Ghana

1998 | International Contemporary Art Fair - Arte Fiera, Bologna, Italy1997 | Cross Currents: Journeys Within the Diaspora - Indianapolis Art Center, Indianapolis, USA

1996 | Wiz, Larry, Kofi - Loft des Artistes Gallery, Abidjan, Ivory Coast Art in Corporate Environment - National Theatre, Accra, Ghana Rise With the Sun Women and African - York Quay Centre Gallery, Toronto, Canada

1994 | Sixteen: Exhibition of Paintings and Prints - Savannah Gallery of Modern African Art, London 1993 Larry Otoo and - Kofi Setordji - Bosman's House, Accra, Ghana

1993 | A Grain of Wheat - Commonwealth Institute, London / with the Addax A Grain of Wheat - Commonwealth Institute, London / with the Addax & Oryx Group, Ltd. 1990 Volunteer Service Overseas: Auction for the World - The Mall Galleries, London, Great Britain

1992 | Paradox of the New - Laing Art Gallery, New Castle Upon-Tyne1990 | Portobelle Festival – London1989 | Africa Meets Africa - Pan-African Writers Association, Artists Alliance, Accra, Ghana1987 | "Ghana" at IFA Gallerie - Bonn, Germany

1984 | 28th Ghana Independence Anniversary Art Exhibition - Westbourne Gallery, London Selected Ghanaian Artists - The Modern African Art Gallery, Accra, Ghana 27th Ghana Independence Anniversary Art Exhibition - Ghanaian Embassy in London

1981 | BBC Silver Jubilee Art Exhibition - London Special

Larry OTOO | Vibrant colours

Private and public collectionsArtists Alliance - Accra, Ghana Cal Merchant Bank - Accra, Ghana Dei Centre - Accra, Ghana Ghana's Washington Chancery - Washington, D.C, USA. Johnson Wax, Head Office - Accra, Ghana Mövenpick Hotel - Accra, Ghana Noguchi Memorial Institut - Tokyo, Japan Presidential Suite, Kwame Nkrumah Conference Centre - Accra, Ghana UNICEF House - Accra World Bank Office - Accra, Ghana His Excellence Nana Akuffo-Addo and First Lady Rbecca Akuffo Addo - Accra, Ghana Francisco Hernandez - Murcia Street Art Festival - Murcia, Spain Ghassan Yared, CEO Forewin Ghana Limited and Honorary Consul General for Peru in Ghana John and Carolyn Odom - Houston - Texas, USA

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For enquiries please contact Sorella Acosta +34 618 356 351 - sorella@outofafricagallery.com

OOA Gallery - Carrer Nou 1 - 08870 Sitges - Barcelona - Spain www.outofafricagallery.com

Out of Africa Gallery @OutofAfrica_Art @outofafricagallery