Art Lecture

On 22 January, we welcomed artist Godfried Donkor to speak to students about his work.

Godfried Donkor is a Ghanaian artist, living and working in London, who has exhibited in Cuba, Mexico, the US, Europe and Africa. He is known for his collages utilising newspaper and gold leaf in a religious-like imagery, as well as paintings which explore the relationship between the slave trade and boxing.

Corinne (Grecian/Year 13 art scholar) wrote the below review:

Born in Ghana in 1964 and educated in England from the age of nine, Godfried detailed the journey of his artwork from graduating art school to now. Godfried works in a range of media, such as collage and printing, with a strong motif of iconography, martial arts, and Blackness as a muse. He spoke about his travels to Africa and the Caribbean: his recording through film and photography of mundane life in these locations serving as a significant inspiration for him. As a Ghanaian myself, this lecture was quite influential for me and I was particularly struck by how relatable the imagery within his work is. His scenes of Accra, with its vibrant vegetation and ambling fowl, truly resonated with me: I believe this speaks to the importance of representation of the underrepresented. Godfried spoke about his constant revisiting and reworking of his preexisting work, and acknowledged the nonexistence of new ideas in the art space, reimagining one idea over a long journey of not just self-expression but self-improvement too.