There is something both mesmerising and candid about the way Godfried Donkor retraces his career, spanning decades and residencies all over the world. He has a childlike wonder about how unlikely it was for him to become an artist: “Back then, I was drawing a lot. A teacher told me to apply to St Martins and I got in. I never thought about having a career until then. I just wanted to have fun. Going to art school was like traveling to another planet – with so many people being better than you!”
Most of his fellow pupils ended up having careers outside the arts but Donkor went on to have a successful career as an international artist. Something else was at play. For Donkor, it was his wonderful support system.
Going to art school was like traveling to another planet
“I come from a Ghanaian family. It was hard telling my parents that I wanted to pursue a career in the arts. I had to prove to them that I could do it.” Donkor’s drive is fuelled by his determination not to give up. “I always have to push through. Giving up would be a failure.”
Donkor’s parents moved from Ghana to the UK when he was a child. Understandably, they didn’t want their sacrifices to have been in vain.
Eventually, his hard work and dedication to his career took off. With his parents’ blessing, as well as the encouragement of his friends and colleagues, he got the help he needed to have his first show. In 1998, Donkor had his first international exhibition in Dakar that kicked off his career.
Donkor’s practice is an ode to the African diaspora: “I look at myself in the mirror and what I see, a black man, is the image I create in my art. If I make figurative images, I make work about what I see, but I am not making a point about it. Blackness can be representative without being political.
I look at myself in the mirror and what I see, a black man, is the image I create in my art
Others see me as black, but it’s not the first thing I see when I wake up. Being black is political in some countries, like in the US, but it’s not true in Ghana, for example.”
In 2010, Donkor designed the official Ghanaian football team kit. “For the World Cup in South Africa, Puma made kits for 14 teams and commissioned artists from each country to do so. I love football and art so it was perfect for me. The footballers wore it for four years and whenever they would be playing, I would be proud to see my design on them. It also made my mum very happy!”
The artist draws inspiration from multiple sources: film, music, comics, pop art (the likes of Basquiat and Warhol) and pop culture in general. Traveling impacts his practice as well as his heritage: “I’m Ashanti (a Ghanaian nation) so I can’t divorce my different cultures. I was born in Kumasi, Ghana but have lived in the UK all my life. I am both British and Ghanaian.”
As a well-traveled artist, many places have inspired him such as the Caribbean or South Africa. Nowadays, he lives between Ghana and London but the latter will always have a special place for him. “It is the most incredible city on the planet” opines Donkor, “no matter where you are in the world, when you say you’re from London, people tell you they’ve been there or that they would love to visit one day.”
I am both British and Ghanaian
His practice includes the use of different art forms: mixing collage, painting, photos, videos and other media. Painting is always his first base, the media he first mastered, but he has no preference for the type of media he uses. The most important thing is to get his message across.
“With some pieces, I start with collage first then painting. The visual component is important for me. And that’s why I am fascinated by film and painting. Film are moving images while painting is made of image which don’t move.”
After caring for his sick parents, Donkor is back working: “there are a few projects I’ve been burying in the past that I hope to start again.” As for now, the artist is resting and finding inspiration everywhere he goes.
