Serge Attukwei Clottey - 20th Century & Contemporary Art: Online Auction New York Tuesday, March 21, 2023 | Phillips

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  • Serge Attukwei Clottey calls his practice “Afrogallonism” in reference to his use of “Kufuor Gallons” in his art. These yellow plastic containers begin as vessels for cooking oil being shipped to Africa. Named in reference to John Kufuor, President of Ghana from 2001–2009, and the water shortages that plagued the country during his rule, the containers became part of Ghanaian everyday life through necessity.i The government’s supply of water was inconsistent, forcing people to gather and stockpile their own water.

     

    12 from the series Common Men is a prominent example of how the artist expertly blends components of Ghanaian culture to express both the history and future potential of the country. The central element of the work is the top of a Kufuor Gallon that has been melted and shaped into a form that conjures imagery of traditional African masks. This is affixed to a backing board adorned with a traditional Ghanaian textile. Drawing a direct link between traditions passed down through history and life in Ghana today, Clottey asks the viewer to ponder questions of resource allocation, reuse, and neocolonialism.

     

    Clottey’s use of Kufuor Gallons reinforces a central theme of his art – poverty and scarcity in Ghana today. This is in turn reflected in the processes he employs to alter the appearance of these gallon containers. Often cutting, burning, melting, and weaving pieces of the containers together, Clottey highlights the potential health risks associated with the continued use of Kufuor Gallons as water vessels: “By cutting up the gallons, I wanted to keep that awareness of how we should get rid of the plastic. Cutting them into pieces meant they could no longer function as water containers.”ii His unrelenting commitment to education through art and illumination of untapped potential in Ghana underscores the resiliency and activism that defines his oeuvre.

    “My practice focuses on the intersection of art and anthropology, as our observations and fieldwork are much the same. We’re both after surrealism. We’re both after the heart and soul of the people that create our community” iii 
    —Serge Attukwei Clottey

     

    i Sharon Benzoni, “A Daily Quest for Water in a City Running Dry,” informal city dialogues, April 4, 2013, online.

    ii Serge Attukwei Clottey, quoted in Anna McNay, “Serge Attukwei Clottey: ‘My body is part of my work’s mystery’,” studio international, March 17, 2017, online.

    iii Serge Attukwei Clottey, quoted in “Interview: Artist Serge Attukwei Clottey on Becoming An Accidental Anthropologist,” Something Curated, March 15, 2023, online.

    • Provenance

      Ever Gold [Projects], San Francisco
      Acquired from the above by the present owner

65

12 from the series Common Men

signed, titled and dated "12 S.A. CLOTTEY 2015" on the reverse
fabric, melted plastic, wire and hardboard
19 7/8 x 19 3/4 in. (50.5 x 50.2 cm)
Executed in 2015.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$2,000 - 3,000 

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Katerina Blackwood 

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20th Century & Contemporary Art: Online Auction

21 - 28 March 2023