Scale, Color, and Shadow: Why Amoako Boafo Remains One of My Favorite Artists
Floral Coat Lining, 2022 viewed at the Seattle Art Museum in March 2025
2021 was the first time I saw Amoako Boafo’s work. I walked into Roberts Projects in Los Angeles and was immediately met with large scale portraits backdropped by beautiful washes of color, and I fell in love.
Since then, Amoako Boafo has become one of my favorite contemporary artists. What drew me to his work then and now is his use of texture and the representation of Black subjects centered at monumental scale. I’m also drawn to his work for the sense of familiarity. I feel like I know the subjects when I look at them, and there’s a slight emotional tension that feels conversational.
The exhibition pictured below, Singular Duality: Me Can Make We, was one of now several shows with Roberts Projects and introduced a striking evolution in his visual language: the shadow.
The Power of Scale and Atmospheric Color
Boafo’s figures are large and don’t feel confined. In a cultural landscape that has historically minimized Black presence, the scale of his work feels deliberate, much like that of artist Kehinde Wiley or Amy Sherald. Having now seen his work in a solo exhibition and then in museums among other art, it is clear that wherever his work lands, it demands space. Once you know his work, it would be hard to miss anywhere.
Colors are often what initially interest me about contemporary art pieces. These cerulean blues, saturated yellows, and soft pinks feel simple but certainly choiceful. The hues are bold but never chaotic. They somehow generate spacial calmness that markedly frames his subjects.
Texture, Human Touch + Emotion
One of the most compelling aspects of Boafo’s work is his technique. He paints skin with his fingers, and the result is rhythmic and intimate. This use of texture activates the paintings and brings them to life just as much as his use of color.
To me, the subjects seem calm and contemplative but also self-assured and even regal. The emotion is not loud but surely you can feel it. In many contemporary depictions of Black subjects, there is a brilliant mix of pride, vulnerability, and contemplation that somehow always tells a story I can relate to.
Why He Remains a Favorite
Amoako Boafo remains one of my favorite artists because he understands proportion of canvas, of color, of emotion.
He paints Black subjects large.
He uses color unapologetically.
Shadows deepen his work intentionally.
And with all of that, he captures boldness and tenderness equally in a very human way.
Walking out of Roberts Projects that day in 2021, I remembered the texture and colors, I also distinctly remembered the fullness of his work because it’s not easily forgotten. Every moment I’ve approached his work in a museum since this exhibition has been a delight.
This is a reflection on Singular Duality: Me Can Make We, an exhibit originally on display at Roberts Projects (Los Angeles, 2021). You can currently see his new exhibition I Bring Home with Me at Roberts Projects now through March 2026.
