Jeremiah Quarshie was born in Accra, Ghana. He lives and works in Karlsruhe, Germany. Quarshie obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana in 2007.
Using the ‘politics of painting’ and its' traditional formalistic concerns as metaphors, he displays an acute social awareness in examining the connection between people who have previously been historically and culturally divided. These divisions have occurred because of social, economic or geographical conditions that have manifested on the African continent. Through his portraiture, he documents the lives of people in fabricated and genuine roles, using his own friends or so-called ‘ordinary women’ who he scouted for as his painting subjects. Quarshie's over- arching thematic concerns pertain to concepts of ‘hope against failing political conditions.’ With a keen interest in historical people and events, Quarshie makes subtle and sometimes bold references to such in his quest to state the recurring conditions and contexts that exists in different times and conditions. Quarshie, began exhibiting in 2007. He went on to exhibit internationally at Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam (SMBA), Amsterdam (2012) and Gallery 1957 at 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, New York (2017). Quarshie has also participated in a number of shows in London, Munich, Marrakesh, Cape Town and Paramaribo.
His work forms part of numerous local and international collections such as, The Zeitz Musuem, Cape Town, The Harn Museum of Art, Florida, The Seth Dei Foundation, Accra and The World Bank Collection, Washington D.C. among others
CV
Born 1985, Accra, Ghana. Lives and works in Karlsruhe, Germany.
Education
2003 - 2007
- B.F.A. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana.
Solo Exhibitions
2022
- Daughters of Noah, Gray and Gray Gallery, Karlsruhe, Germany.
2016
- Yellow is the Colour of Water, Gallery 1957, Accra, Ghana
Selected Group Exhibitions
2021
- Self Addressed, Jeffery Deitch Gallery, Los Angeles, USA.
2020
- Welcome Home Vol. II, MACAAL, Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden, Marrakech, Morocco.
2019
- Material Insanity, MACAAL, Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden, Marrakech, Morocco
2018
- Talisman In the Age of Difference, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, UK.
- All Things Being Equal... ,Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art, Cape Town, South Africa.
2017
- All Things Being Equal... ,Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art, Cape Town, South Africa.
2016
- The Collection, Gallery 1957, Accra, Ghana.
2015
- The Gown Must Go To Town, Science and Technology Musuem, Accra, Ghana.
- Silence Between the Lines, Prime Motors Showroom, Kumasi, Ghana.
2014
- The Munich-project, Global Art — Local View, Villa Mohr, Munich, Germany.
2013
- Muses, Goethe Institut, Accra
- The ‘Sabi Yu Rutu’ project, Paramaribo, Suriname
- Kaleidoscope, La Villa Boutique, Accra, Ghana 2012
- Time, Trade and Travel, Nubuke Foundation, Accra, Ghana.
- Time, Trade and Travel, Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam (SMBA), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
- The Ghana-project, Global Art — Local View, Goethe Institut, Accra, Ghana.
Art Fairs
2023
- Gray and Gray Gallery at Art Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany.
2022
- Gray and Gray Gallery at Art Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany.
- Gray and Gray Gallery at Positions Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
2019
- Retro Africa Gallery at Art X Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
2017
- Gallery 1957 at 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, New York, USA.
2016
- Gallery 1957 at Art X Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria.
Residencies
2017
- African Artists' Foundation (AAF), Lagos, Nigeria
Collections
- The Harn Museum of Art, Florida, USA
- Seth Dei Foundation, Accra, Ghana
- Zeitz Collection, Cape Town, South Africa.
- Philbrook Museum of Art, Oklahoma, USA.
- The World Bank Collection, Washington D.C. , USA
- Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Madden, Marrakech, Morocco.
- Foundation Gandur pour l'Art, Geneva, Switzerland.
- Private Collection, Stutgart, Germany.