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Arthur Timothy-Grandma's Hands : Accra, Gallery II

Past exhibition
28 Aug - 22 Oct 2021
  • Overview
  • Works
  • Press
Overview
Arthur Timothy 11 Earl street, 2021 Oil paint on linen 190 x 190 x 2.6 cms 74 3/4 x 74 3/4 x 1 1/8 inches
Arthur Timothy
11 Earl street, 2021
Oil paint on linen
190 x 190 x 2.6 cms
74 3/4 x 74 3/4 x 1 1/8 inches

Gallery 1957, Ghana is proud to announce a solo exhibition of new works from British painter Arthur Timothy, marking his debut in the country of his birth.

Born to Sierra Leonean and Ghanaian parents in Accra in 1957 - the year Ghana gained independence from colonial rule - Arthur Timothy is an artist and architect, whose artworks depict close family members and autobiographical events, specifically in Accra, where the artist was born, and Freetown, where he lived until the age of 9. His large-scale oil paintings are inspired by an archive of black and white photographs found amongst his father's papers, which he brings to life with vibrant colours, from both memory and imagination.

Co-curated by Ekow Eshun, the works on show are a result of Timothy’s recent re-examining of the post-colonial African life that informed his early years. In fresh washes of colour, Timothy’s found photographs (kept unmarked in a trunk) are transformed into lush paintings which marry the personal and the political, encouraging considered and nuanced responses to momentsfrozen in time.

Multi-layered and complex – some are underpinned by memory, whilst others are lost to the sands of time. The paintings depict moments in the lives of the Ghanaian and Sierra Leonean sides of his family. His father Bankole Timothy was from Sierra Leone, and his mother Adeline Dove – a daughter of the distinguished barrister Francis (Frans) Dove - was from Accra, Ghana.

In paintings such as The Journalist (2021) we peer into family life, with Timothy’s late father shown at work for Ghana’s leading Daily Graphic paper. Initially a friend of Kwame Nkrumah - Ghana’s first president - Timothy’s father bore witness to many important political moments, some of which are depicted in works including The Witness and Rubicon (both 2021). In Delegation (2021) the viewer is introduced to Kwame Nkrumah’s first political cabinet. Amongst figures including Kojo Botsio, K.A. Gbedemah, A. Caseley-Hayford, T. Hutton-Millsdressed in traditional Kente cloth, are British delegates from the House of Commons, dressed in top hats and tails.

Other works depict life after the family left Ghana. Following his outspoken journalistic criticism of Nkrumah’s political decision-making in an article entitled “What Next Kwame?”, Timothy’s father was deported, and the family returned to Sierra Leone. In works such as 11 Earl Street and Mischief (both 2021) we glimpse post-deportation family life at his grandmother’s house in Freetown. On his mother Adeline Dove’s side of the family, the paintings depict Adeline and some of her sisters. Mabel Dove (2021) presents Timothy’s aunt Mabel Dove Danquah - a prominent writer, journalist and political activist and pioneering Ghanaian feminist on the steps of the Ghanaian Embassy in London. Alongside this is Evelyn Dove (2021), depicting Mabel’s sister, herself a well-known singer and actress, and Eileen Dove and her family.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue including texts from curator and broadcaster Ekow Eshun. Grandma’s Hands will be on view from August 28 through October 1, 2021.

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Works
  • Arthur Timothy, Grandma's hands, 2021
    Arthur Timothy, Grandma's hands, 2021
  • Arthur Timothy, Big man, 2021
    Arthur Timothy, Big man, 2021
  • Arthur Timothy, 11 Earl street, 2021
    Arthur Timothy, 11 Earl street, 2021
  • Arthur Timothy, Birds of paradise, 2021
    Arthur Timothy, Birds of paradise, 2021
  • Arthur Timothy, Brothers III, 2021
    Arthur Timothy, Brothers III, 2021
  • Arthur Timothy, Eileen Dove & Family, 2021
    Arthur Timothy, Eileen Dove & Family, 2021
  • Arthur Timothy, Evelyn Dove, 2021
    Arthur Timothy, Evelyn Dove, 2021
  • Arthur Timothy, Friends, 2021
    Arthur Timothy, Friends, 2021
  • Arthur Timothy, La Femme, 2021
    Arthur Timothy, La Femme, 2021
  • Arthur Timothy, Mabel Dove, 2021
    Arthur Timothy, Mabel Dove, 2021
  • Arthur Timothy, Marjorie, 2021
    Arthur Timothy, Marjorie, 2021
  • Arthur Timothy, Mischief, 2021
    Arthur Timothy, Mischief, 2021
  • Arthur Timothy, Rubicon, 2021
    Arthur Timothy, Rubicon, 2021
  • Arthur Timothy, Teacher, 2021
    Arthur Timothy, Teacher, 2021
  • Arthur Timothy, The black ocean, 2021
    Arthur Timothy, The black ocean, 2021
  • Arthur Timothy, The delegation, 2021
    Arthur Timothy, The delegation, 2021
  • Arthur Timothy, The Journalist, 2021
    Arthur Timothy, The Journalist, 2021
  • Arthur Timothy, The Vincentians, 2021
    Arthur Timothy, The Vincentians, 2021
  • Arthur Timothy, The witness, 2021
    Arthur Timothy, The witness, 2021
Close
Press
  • Sierra Leone: Artist Arthur Timothy traces his history in ‘Postcards from a Promised Land’

    The Africa Report, 20 Jan 2023
  • Arthur Timothy: Grandma’s Hands at Gallery 1957

    REBECCA ANNE PROCTOR, Whitehot Magazine, 3 Oct 2021
  • ARTHUR TIMOTHY: Grandma’s Hands

    Emma Gilhooly, Nataal, 10 Sep 2021
  • nterview: Arthur Timothy Injects Colour Into Scenes Of A Newly Independent Ghana

    Something Curated, 27 Aug 2021

Related artist

  • Arthur Timothy

    Arthur Timothy

Back to Past exhibitions

Gallery 1957, I, II and III, Accra
Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast & Galleria Mall
PMB 66 — Ministries
Gamel Abdul Nasser Avenue
Ridge — Accra
Ghana

info@gallery1957.com

Tues - Sat, 11-7pm during exhibitions

Free Admission

Gallery 1957, London
1 Hyde Park Gate
London
SW7 5EW
UK

london@gallery1957.com

Tues - Sat, 10-6pm during exhibitions

Free Admission

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