Yaw OwusuAll That Glitters

Yaw OwusuAll That Glitters29 June — 3 August 2017

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Yaw Owusu creates sculptural installations that repurpose found objects, shifting the value of otherwise-worthless materials into things of beauty. Built from countless pieces of loose change known as “pesewa” coins, his recent work activates urgent questions around economic and political independence in Ghana. First introduced as an attempt to cure the countries economic inflation in 2007, these small copper coins have almost no value in today’s financial climate, enabling the artist to use them as a primary material. Typical of Owusu’s approach to working with local agencies to develop his work, the artist acquired the coins by negotiating with national banks — a bureaucratic process as important to the practice as the work itself. Drawn from the common saying ‘All that glitters is not gold’, Owusu’s new body of work is a meditation on the question of how value is made and unmade. Turning the worthless currency into an object of intrinsic value, the work reflects upon the illusions of wealth, abundance and riches in contemporary society. As the saying suggests, these things can promise to be more than they really are, however by leaving the sentence unfinished, ‘All That Glitters’ is urging the viewer to reach their own conclusion. Across a new body of work, Owusu demonstrates the transformative tendencies of copper coins by reimagining them as both a material form and a pallet. Built around a core body of geometric shapes, the exhibition develops from earlier work, often large and monumental in scale, towards a series of jewel-like canvases with a unique sense of formality and randomness. Together they reflect the artist’s desire to constantly experiment with coins, opening up to graphic lines and geometric shapes commonly found on national flags and in structures of modernist architecture. Created as structural works that embrace the same organic qualities as their materials his sculptures have incorporated as much as twenty-four thousand coins. Transforming under various conditions and processes, the bronzed coins undergo natural and chemical treatments, namely with salt from the south coasts and vinegar from the eastern regions to reveal their age and quality. They can appear fixed onto wooden panels, draped over walls loosely hanging onto surfaces to form a camouflage, however they are anything but decorative displays of natural beauty. Instead, these installations are an expression of the complex processes that demarcate Ghana’s social and political systems. Like the economy itself, the objects seem robust due to their dense façade, yet they are constantly reflecting the world around them. The surfaces act both as protective layer of indestructible metal and a shiny foil made up of empty matter. Created as structural works that embrace the same organic qualities as their materials his sculptures have incorporated as much as twenty-four thousand coins. Transforming under various conditions and processes, the bronzed coins undergo natural and chemical treatments, namely with salt from the south coasts and vinegar from the eastern regions to reveal their age and quality. They can

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appear fixed onto wooden panels, draped over walls or loosely hanging onto surfaces to form a camouflage, however they are anything but decorative displays of natural beauty. Instead, these installations are an expression of the complex processes that demarcate Ghana’s social and political systems. In Back to the Future (2017), Owusu created a coin-clad Ghana flag on canvas draped across a building in an attempt to draw on the strength of country’s independent spirit. However, Due to its outdoor presentation, the canvas coins would eventually lose their shades of yellow, red and green to become discoloured bringing to attention the present day situation of mass corruption and failure. Like the economy itself, the objects seem robust due to their dense façade, yet they are constantly reflecting the world around them. The surfaces act both as protective layer of indestructible metal and a shiny foil made up of empty matter. Developing his work further to accommodate the formal qualities of the coins themselves, the new works appear to be capturing the action of movement. In works like Mid-point (2017) and Dependent (2017) this sense of movement is conveyed not only in the juxtaposing shapes that overlap and interlock across the surface, but also in the uneven pieces of wood that fall out of line with one and other. In this particular series, we see the full range of tonal hues seen in Owusu’s work — bronze, deep purple, gun metal grey, and brown — further expanding the artist's vocabulary as far as colour is concerned. In some instances colour is treated as an essential element of pattern structure (Gold Rush, 2017), in other moments coins are dispersed randomly to form a multicoloured constellation. The slanted rectangular shapes move in almost every direction, merging at times to form arrows or built up structures that resemble buildings (Night in the Dark, 2017). These works emerge from the artist’s fascination with geometry and the built environment, forming a dialogue with the mathematical and economic structures from which the coins derive their symbolic meaning. Through his socially engaged yet visually rich practice, Owusu continues to question the non-functionality of the country’s ongoing infrastructural development. In his new body of work, the devalued coins are also transformed into detailed surfaces resembling maps. Canvas-based work Then and Now I (2017) reveal what could be images of old colonial maps representing economic power structures drawn by history, or they could be alternative typographies that map out new possible relations for a more resourceful future. While the material itself is inseparable from the failure of certain socio-economic structures in Ghana, the artist’s playful approach is rooted in a sense of alchemy that embraces the complexities of symbolism and meaning. As the works enter another economy in the form of the gallery system, they take on a new meaning altogether, their new found status as tradable objects reveal the dynamics of money both metaphorically and literally.

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Night in the Dark, 2017 Treated copper coins on wood

72 x 72 inches

Then and Now I, 2017 Treated copper coins on canvas

81 x 60 inches

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Then and Now I, 2017 Treated copper coins on canvas

81 x 60 inches

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Back to the Future, 2016 Treated copper coins on vinyl

144 x 264 inches

Recurrence, 2017 Treated copper coins on wood

52 x 52 inches

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Genesis, 2015 Treated copper coins on wood

96 x 96 inches

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Remnants, 2017 Treated copper coins on wood

72 x 72 inches

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Midpoint, 2017 Treated copper coins on wood

72 x 120 inches

Gold Rush, 2017 Treated copper coins on wood

72 x 72 inches

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Untapped, 2017 Treated copper coins on wood

72 x 72 inches

Trail of Change, 2017 Treated copper coins on wood

60 x 60 inches

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Trail of Change (detail), 2017 Treated copper coins on wood

60 x 60 inches

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Artist Biography

Yaw Owusu (b.1992) creates sculptural installations that repurpose found objects, shifting the value of otherwise-worthless materials into things of beauty. Built from countless pieces of loose change known as “pesewa” coins, his work activates urgent questions around economic and political independence in contemporary Ghana. First introduced as an attempt to cure the countries economy’s inflation in 2007, these small copper coins have almost no value in today’s financial climate, enabling the artist to use them as a primary material. Typical of Owusu’s approach to working with local agencies to develop his work, the artist acquired the coins by negotiating with Ghana’s banks — a bureaucratic process that is as important to the artist’s practice as the final works.

Created as structural works that embrace the same organic qualities of their materials his sculptures have incorporated as much as twenty-four thousand coins, transforming under various conditions and processes. The bronzed coins undergo various natural and chemical treatments, using salt from the south coasts and vinegar from the mid and eastern regions to reveal their age and quality. They can appear fixed onto wooden panels, draped over walls or loosely hanging onto surfaces to form a camouflage, however they are anything but decorative displays of natural beauty.

Instead, these installations are an expression of the artists reflections on the complex processes that demarcate Ghana’s social and political systems. Like the economy itself, the sculptures seem robust due to their dense façade, yet they are in flux and constant movement with their surroundings. The surfaces act both as protective layer of indestructible metal and an shiny foil made up of empty matter.

Through his social engaged yet visually rich practice, Owusu’s continues to question the non-functionality of the countries ongoing infrastructural development. In his new body of work, devalued coins are transformed into a detailed surfaces resembling maps. In one instance, they could be images of old colonial maps representing economic power structures drawn by history, or they could be alternative typographies that map out new possible relations for a more resourceful future. While the material itself is inseparable from the failure of socio-economic structures in Ghana, the artist playful approach is rooted in a sense of alchemy that embraces the complexity of notions of value, exchange and locality in an increasingly global environment.

Exhibitions2017 All That Glitters, Gallery 1957, Accra

2016 Cornfields in Accra, Museum of Science and Technology, Accra

Spirit Robot, Chale Wote Street Art Festival, Jamestown Accra

PART IV internat. Artist Project, Galerie 102, Berlin

2015 Silence between the Lines, Prime Motors Showroom, Kumasi

The Gown Must Go to Town, Museum of Science and Technology, Accra

This catalogue accompanies Yaw Owusu’s exhibition All That Glitters at Gallery 1957, 29 June — 3 August 2017

Founding director Marwan Zakhem Curatorial advisor Osei Bonsu Gallery manager Yesha Puplampu Gallery assistant Kofi Tsatsu Amable Exhibition installation Fahd Dtus & the Zakhem construction team Press Pelham Communications

Catalogue © Gallery 1957 All images © Yaw Owusu Photography Nii Odzenma Design Hyperkit, London

Gallery 1957 Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City PMB 66 — Ministries Gamel Abdul Nasser Avenue Ridge — Accra Ghana

www.gallery1957.com

All or part of this publication may not be reproduced, stored in retrieval systems or transmitted in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, including photocopying recording or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.