On View: ‘Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe: Hall of Fame’ at Roberts Projects in Los Angeles, Portrait Artist Explores Cultural History of Boxing in Ghana

Installation view of “Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe: Hall of Fame,” Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, Calif., 2024. | Courtesy the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles. Photo by Paul Salveson

THE POWERFUL PORTRAITS of Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe (b. 1988) are exercises in symbolism, leaning on brilliant color, personal style, facial expression, and environmental details to convey the essence of his subjects.

Born in Accra, Ghana, Quaicoe lives and works in Portland, Ore. After making a series of paintings focused on cowboys and Black rodeo traditions, Quaicoe is paying homage to boxers. His latest body of work is particularly attuned to cultural identity and personal narrative.

“Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe: Hall of Fame,” at Roberts Projects in Los Angeles, presents paintings and photographs that explore the complex history and contemporary fervor surrounding boxing in Ghana. Similar to NBA dreams in the United States, boxing is viewed as a path out of poverty in the villages of Ghana. WBC featherweight and super-featherweight champion Azumah Nelson, who held his titles in the 1980s and 90s, and Ike Quartey, WBA welterweight champion from 1994-98, were born in Bukom, which has become a hotbed of the sport and home to major boxing gyms and training facilities.

To make the portraits featured in the exhibition, Quaicoe visited Bukom on the outskirts of Accra, and photographed his subjects, many of whom he knows. In the resulting portraits, his lean sitters strike poses that project all the passion and confidence of a Muhammad Ali, while the gaze of their eyes suggest a practiced determination to overcome trepidation in pursuit of victory. CT

IMAGE: Above left, Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe. | Courtesy the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles. Photo by Frenel Morris

“Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe: Hall of Fame” is on view at Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, Calif., from March 23-April 27, 2024

OTIS KWAME KYE QUAICOE, “In Readiness,” 2024 (oil on canvas, 82 x 52 inches / 208.3 x 132.1 cm). | © Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Courtesy the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles

Installation view of “Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe: Hall of Fame,” Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, Calif., 2024. | Courtesy the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles. Photo by Paul Salveson

OTIS KWAME KYE QUAICOE, “The Ali Effect,” 2023 (oil and fabric appliqué on canvas, 112 x 75 inches / 284.5 x 190.5 cm). | © Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Courtesy the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles

OTIS KWAME KYE QUAICOE, “Bout,” 2024 (oil on canvas, 82 x 54 inches / 208.3 x 137.2 cm). | © Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Courtesy the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles. Photo by Paul Salveson

OTIS KWAME KYE QUAICOE, Detail of “Bout,” 2024 (oil on canvas, 82 x 54 inches / 208.3 x 137.2 cm). | © Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Courtesy the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles. Photo by Paul Salveson

Installation view of “Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe: Hall of Fame,” Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, Calif., 2024. | Courtesy the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles. Photo by Paul Salveson

OTIS KWAME KYE QUAICOE, “Thomas Nii Quansah Sackey,” 2024 (oil and fabric appliqué on canvas, 108 x 84 in (274.3 x 213.4 cm). | © Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Courtesy the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles. Photo by Paul Salveson

OTIS KWAME KYE QUAICOE, Untitled II, 2024 (oil on canvas, 30 x 24 inches / 76.2 x 61 cm). | © Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Courtesy the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles. Photo by Paul Salveson

OTIS KWAME KYE QUAICOE, Untitled I, 2024 (oil on canvas, 30 x 24 inches / 76.2 x 61 cm). | © Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Courtesy the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles. Photo by Paul Salveson

OTIS KWAME KYE QUAICOE, “Daniel Lartey I,” 2024 (charcoal and graphite on paper, 30 x 22 inches / 76.2 x 55.9 cm). | © Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Courtesy the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles. Photo by Paul Salveson

OTIS KWAME KYE QUAICOE, “David Tagoe,” 2023 (oil on canvas, 60 x 40 inches / 152.4 x 101.6 cm). | © Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Courtesy the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles. Photo by Paul Salveson

Installation view of “Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe: Hall of Fame,” Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, Calif., 2024. | Courtesy the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles. Photo by Paul Salveson

OTIS KWAME KYE QUAICOE, “Up For It,” 2023 (oil on canvas, 72 x 72 inches / 182.9 x 182.9 cm). | © Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Courtesy the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles. Photo by Paul Salveson

FIND MORE about Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe on his website and Instagram

READ MORE “Bukom and the Social History of Boxing in Accra,” a 2002 essay by African scholar and historian Emmanuel Akyeampong connects the origins of boxing in Ghana to British colonialism in the West African nation

FIND MORE Ghanaian artist Godfried Donkor has also explored the history and origin of boxing in Ghana. The connections were the focus of a recent solo exhibition, “Battle Royale II: Pantheon of Champions,” which was on view at Gallery 1957 in London last year

BOOKSHELF
“Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe: Black Rodeo” was published in conjunction with the artist’s 2022 exhibition at Almine Rech in Brussels. Now sold out, “Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe: Black Like Me” documents Quaicoe’s first exhibition at Roberts Projects in 2020. Also consider, “African Art Now: 50 Pioneers Defining African Art for the Twenty-First Century,” “African Artists: From 1882 to Now,” and “Contemporary African Art (World of Art).”