October Gallery presents Freedom Rising: The Art of Owusu-Ankomah, a powerful posthumous exhibition celebrating the life and work of the late Ghanaian artist, who passed away in February 2025. Featuring a curated selection of paintings created between 2008 and 2014, the exhibition invites viewers into a striking world of symbols, identity, and spiritual inquiry.
Owusu-Ankomah was known internationally for his large-scale black-and-white canvases, which feature powerful human figures surrounded by complex symbolic systems. His early work drew on the Adinkra traditions of the Akan people of Ghana, reflecting his cultural heritage and deep respect for African knowledge systems. Over time, his symbolic vocabulary expanded to include references from mathematics, physics, and esoteric thought—incorporating forms such as fractals, crop circles, snowflakes and invented glyphs of his own.
Through a studied trompe l’oeil technique, the artist’s figures often seem to merge with the symbols surrounding them. These painted bodies, covered in similar glyphs, dissolve into their environments—suggesting the deep interconnection between individual identity and the symbolic systems that shape it.
One of Owusu-Ankomah’s most significant contributions to contemporary visual language is the concept of the Microcron. Often depicted as a luminous circle of orbs, the Microcron became a recurring motif in his later works. He described it as the “symbol of symbols”—a meta-symbol expressing the idea that reality itself is constructed through the signs and beliefs we choose to accept. The Microcron became both a visual and philosophical centrepoint in his work, dramatising moments of awakening, insight and transformation. For the artist, symbols were not just abstract patterns—they were tools through which humanity could reimagine its path forward.
He once explained, “For me, these paintings are all about the power of freedom: freedom of movement, freedom of self-expression, both as individuals and societies.” This belief in symbolic liberation is evident throughout Freedom Rising. The monumental figures depicted in these canvases seem suspended in contemplation—silent, muscular forms engaged in the work of inner transformation. They evoke both personal introspection and collective evolution.
Born in 1956 in Sekondi, Ghana, Owusu-Ankomah rose to prominence as one of the leading figures in contemporary African art. His work was exhibited widely across Europe, North America, Asia and Africa, and featured in landmark exhibitions such as Africa Remix (2004–2007), which helped bring global attention to a new generation of African artists. He collaborated with Giorgio Armani on the Red Campaign to raise funds for the fight against AIDS in Africa, and his work is included in the permanent collections of the British Museum in London, the Hood Museum of Art in the United States, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and Renaissance Capital in Moscow.
In recent years, his paintings appeared in O Quilombismo, curated by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, and were featured at the inaugural edition of Africa Basel in 2025. His practice remained intellectually and spiritually engaged throughout his life, and his influence continues to resonate across the worlds of art, design, and cultural philosophy.
Freedom Rising offers a rare opportunity to experience Owusu-Ankomah’s visionary work in one of London’s most respected spaces for contemporary art. It is a reminder of the enduring power of symbol, gesture, and imagination—and a fitting tribute to a singular voice in global art.
Freedom Rising: The Art of Owusu-Ankomah is on view from 4 September to 4 October 2025 at October Gallery, 24 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3ALFreedom Rising: The Art of Owusu-Ankomah
www.octobergallery.co.uk