Gallery 1957 presents Mastery might be a long way off, but the flow state induced by floristry is profoundly rewarding, a solo exhibition by Larry Amponsah. This new body of work is curated by Katherine Finerty and follows a four-month residency with the gallery in the artist’s hometown of Accra.

Through the practice of image-making as architectural horticulture, Larry Amponsah cultivates new interior worlds by collecting and combining found imagery that grows from collages into paintings. This new body of work for the artist’s first solo show in his hometown explores ideas of habitability and hospitality, whereby one may fertilise their surroundings in order to not just survive, but thrive.

The paintings on display are camouflaged, appearing to be multi-media in form like the magazines and archival books that Amponsah has been collecting since moving to London for his Painting Masters at the Royal College of Art. In keeping with the artist’s enduring search for ever-evolving technical mastery and metamorphoses, we see painting reinvent itself. His practice is akin to farming or gardening, creating and tenderly nurturing spaces for people and ideas to grow. “The practice of painting is a vast one,” Amponsah contends, “it’s like going into a house with billions of rooms filled with infinite possibilities (some meaningful, and others not). Therefore, to establish a solid practice full of ideas and meaning, one must be willing to travel and to excavate the hard floors of painting in order to encounter the hidden treasures of surprise and wonder.”

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