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GIDEON APPAH
More Luck
September 8 – October 15, 2022

GIDEON APPAH  A Woman Drowned in Water 2021

GIDEON APPAH

A Woman Drowned in Water
2021

Oil on canvas

31 1/4 by 39 1/4 in. 79.4 by 99.7 cm.

GIDEON APPAH  Black Beast 2020-21

GIDEON APPAH

Black Beast
2020-21

Oil and acrylic on sewn canvas

71 7/8 by 96 in. 182.6 by 243.8 cm.

GIDEON APPAH Fruits and Hands 2021

GIDEON APPAH

Fruits and Hands

2021

Charcoal on paper

16 1/2 by 11 5/8 in. 41.9 by 29.5 cm.

GIDEON APPAH Man on Bed 2021

GIDEON APPAH

Man on Bed

2021

Oil on canvas

78 3/8 by 39 1/4 in. 199.1 by 99.7 cm.

GIDEON APPAH Ten Nudes and a Landscape 2021

GIDEON APPAH

Ten Nudes and a Landscape

2021

Oil on canvas

Diptych: 94 1/2 by 118 1/8 in. 240 by 300 cm.

Each panel: 47 1/4 by 118 1/8 in. 120 by 300 cm.

GIDEON APPAH The Young Minotaur 2021

GIDEON APPAH

The Young Minotaur

2021

Oil and acrylic on canvas

39 3/8 by 31 1/2 in. 100 by 80 cm.

GIDEON APPAH White Castle 2021

GIDEON APPAH

White Castle

2021

Oil on sewn canvas

78 5/8 by 78 5/8 in. 199.7 by 199.7 cm.

GIDEON APPAH Woman in a Tub 2021

GIDEON APPAH

Woman in a Tub

2021

Oil on canvas

31 1/2 by 23 5/8 in. 80 by 60 cm.

Gideon Appah, Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah

Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah, Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah

Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah, Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah

Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah, Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah

Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah, Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah

Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah, Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah

Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah, Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah

Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah, Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah

Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah, Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah

Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah, Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah

Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah, Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah

Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah, Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah

Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah, Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah

Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah, Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Gideon Appah

Installation view of More Luck at Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York, 2022

Press Release

Mitchell-Innes & Nash is pleased to present its second solo exhibition of work by Ghanaian artist Gideon Appah (b. 1987) on view September 8 – October 15, 2022. Following his first U.S. museum solo show at ICA VCU, it will feature paintings and drawings that were made in Accra over the last three years, largely during the course of global lockdowns and collective upheaval.

In this new body of work, much of which debuted in his recent museum show, Appah pivots from his usual cooler tones and opts instead for a warmer palette of desaturated color in order to render emotionally impactful compositions, culling equally melancholic and auspicious scenes that detail the complexities of the human condition and natural world. There are looming skies, bedridden men and drowning women, but the artist also marks a deep courage revealed by several portraits of majestic horses in varying states of rest and motion.

On view is also a selection of fantastical charcoal drawings that depict landscape and still life scenes with a Surrealist tone. Evoking a similar sense of mystery and spirituality seen in the paintings, these works on paper isolate the line and give emphasis to Appah’s acute draftsmanship. Here, his mark-making is bold and candid, playing charmingly against the subtlety of that in the paintings.

Critically recognized early in his career, Appah’s compositional range has established him as one of the most inventive and intriguing painters working in Ghana today. From influences of Ghanian film to post-independent architecture, he situates the contemporary within the historical while giving a stage to legend and myth. His familiar thick, rough applications of pigment lend shape to abstractions and figurations that use color and scale to evoke important signifiers of visual and emotional hierarchy.