ARTIST BIO

Ghanaian born, Newark Based Artist, Kwesi Kwarteng is a multidisciplinary artist who works mainly with textiles. He explores the  identities formed by the intersectionality of different cultures. These textile assemblages draw from the artist’s Ghanaian heritage, and the cultural significance of fabrics and color that identify various life events or state of being of the makers and users. As an immigrant living in the United States, Kwarteng transcribes a new language from the combination of traditional and cultural fabrics along with hand-dyed textiles into abstract-like pieces to investigate migration trajectories, share histories while unearthing the intricacies and beauty of Multiculturalism. Kwarteng’s works serve to explore multi-cultural identity, social cohesion and inclusion, and global interconnectivity which act as counterpoints to the absurdity of racial tensions and social divisions that persists in the US and around the world. 

In Kwarteng’s works, there is an exploration of traditional weavers in Ghana, influenced by El Anatsui’s extraordinary sculptures, twentieth century African American quilting artistry, and abstract, color field works by Sam Gilliam. He perfectly captures the nuances of using what might be considered a myriad of discarded remnants and swatches to align narratives that reflect his experiences growing up in Ghana and moving to the United States as a teenager. Through his early challenges as an immigrant, he learned to embrace the multi-facets of culture and the heterogeneity of the immigrant story in the Bronx, New York and later in Newark NJ. He has a BFA- from the School of Visual Arts, NY. His works are held in private and corporate collections around the world. He is a recent Artist in Residence at the Silver Arts Project.