Vincent Kofi

Vincent Akwete Kofi was a Ghanaian sculptor and teacher, described as "Ghana's most important sculptor". Working mainly in wood, he made modernist sculptures shaped by Pan-Africanism and decolonisation, and in the 1970s he was the Ghanaian artist best known abroad.

Early life and education

He was born on 16 January 1923 in Odumasi-Krobo, in the Eastern Region. He trained at Achimota College, which then had the leading art department in West Africa, studied at the Royal College of Art in London from 1952 to 1955 and attended Columbia University in New York in 1959. In New York he learned metal casting and, with the Harmon Foundation, made a film on bronze casting.

Work

His sculptures, among them Awakening Africa, Crucifix and Blackman's Stoicism, drew on Ghana's cultural traditions and were exhibited across Africa and Europe. He was part of Ghana's delegation to the First World Festival of Negro Arts in Dakar in 1966 and visited India in 1971 at the invitation of its government. With the textile artist Charlotte Hagan he co-owned the Kofhag Art Mart gallery and studio.

Teacher

He taught at Winneba Teacher Training College from 1961 to 1969 and was then head of fine art at the College of Art of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology from 1969 until his death. He influenced younger artists, including El Anatsui in his early years.

Death

He died on 31 July 1974. He was married to Felicia Korkor Djabatey, and they had a daughter, Janet Ayerko Kofi.