William Kwamena-Poh is a native of Ghana, West Africa. He came to the United States in the early 1980’s and has resided in Alabama, Washington DC, Chicago, IL and has called Savannah, GA home since 1995. William is a self taught artist who paints with gouache, also known as opaque watercolor; the same medium used by the late, great African American artist, Jacob Lawrence and also experimented with by Dali, Picasso, and Klimt. According to Ralph Mayer’s Artist Handbook, “gouache paints are opaque and have (or should have) a total hiding power, and because they do not become progressively transparent with age as oil have a tendency to do…gouache has a brilliant light-reflecting quality of a different and distinct nature; it lies in the paint surface itself; its whiteness or brightness comes from the use of white pigments.”
This density and opacity of gouache allows William to capture and give the viewer a small window into his beautiful and wonder-filled homeland. “The sun’s strength is ever present, providing a colorful environment which is strongly reflected in Ghana culture and clothing,” says William. On his visits home he takes lots of photographs of places he grew up in and then sketches them freehand onto tracing paper so that he can best portray the natural and original feel of the scenes. He then transfers the sketched and corrected images onto heavier watercolor paper which permits him to implement numerous lifts and scrubbing to achieve the desired textures and emotional qualities of the scene.
William is internationally known for his series images of Women, Fisherman, Children and Market Scenes. His work is collected by private and well-known public figures throughout the United States and abroad (i.e., Academy Award winning Actor and Director, Forrest Whitaker; Actress, Angela Bassett; NBA Star, Tim Hardaway, just to name a few). Corporate collections include: Prudential, DuSable Museum, Disney Corp., Amoco Corp., Ford Motors, BET and Luster Products. Donated works include an original exclusively created and donated for auction to the Health and Educational Relief Organization (H.E.R.O.) for their 2014 annual fundraising gala in NY.
William’s father was a notable history professor who spent most of his teaching career at the University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana. He came to the U.S. in the early 1980’s as a Fulbright Scholar and taught African history at Talladega College. He brought young William with him, where he received his B.A. in Sociology. His father was aware of William’s budding artistic gift which was an inheritance from William’s grandfather, who was an art teacher. However, his father hoped William would follow in his footsteps sharing the history of his people…a wish William vehemently protested initially. But divine intervention saw his father’s wish, William’s protest and inherited gift through a slightly different lens. William walks in the footsteps of his ancestors and passionately shares the history of his people and homeland with his paint brush. This past February, during the week of William’s birthday he returned home for the ceremonial celebration of his father’s life and burial. While he was/is saddened by his father’s earthly departure, he found this trip home spiritually uplifting. He basked in the reminiscing of his father with family, friends, colleagues and town folk who paid such moving tributes that are forever etched in his heart. But also on this trip home, William celebrated his birthday and the life of his father, the man who had the great foresight to bring him to the U.S. for the opportunity to embrace, cultivate and share his gift of art with the masses.
