Like his friend and former teacher Boafo, Emmanuel Taku (TAH-koo) uses monochromatic backgrounds to offset his figures. How do the subjects of Taku’s 2022 Party in Purple, above, differ from the person in Hands Up?
As a child, Taku noticed that superheroes in movies and on television were almost always White. When Superman was at his most formidable, Taku recalls, his eyes would go blank. Taku adopts this idea, giving his subjects pupil-less eyes to portray his Black subjects as powerful.
Taku’s figures wear distinctively patterned clothes. He designs these patterns on a computer, then silkscreens them onto his paintings. “I love fashion,” the Ghana-based artist says.
The matching duo appears to be dancing or modeling, with touching feet. As Taku explains, “I want to make it look like everything is possible when we come together.”