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WIYN (Who Is Your Neighbour)
SIGNED BY YAW TONY
Who Is Your Neighbour (WIYN) is a follow-up to my perennial exhibition about the value of life and also a rejoinder to many deep-coloured irrefutably conspectus that were brought to light during the exhibition. These questions from the audience source the amelioration of the exhibition. The questions about what is true Love and what is true Leadership (especially among people who have been affected by the deleteriousness of colonization) were the most disseminated making it the nucleus of this composite; as an exhibition, artist talk, pivotal moment to connect and heal the community and also allowing for public critique and celebration.
The first exposition of this composite is a two-part perorational exhibition showing simultaneously but at two separate galleries. The distance between the two apart galleries helps to create the experience/expression of the love and leadership attitude towards our neighbours. Love is a generous move by one for the sake of another.
Leadership requires a person to lead themselves to initiate the action. To travel from the distance between the galleries (is a symbolic gesture), to initiate the act of the will out of condition.
The exhibition will display 60 new original artworks, 30 artworks per gallery plus artist talk and community workshops will be held in both galleries, one which will focus on what true love is, and the other will focus on what true leadership is…
Listen to Monocle CIFF Interview Podcast
Nic Monisse, from Monocle on Design, interviews Yaw Tony, the founder of the Canadian scarf brand Life Liveth in Me, at the Copenhagen International Fashion Fair.
Watch Monocle CIFF Interview
Watch Nic Monisse, from Monocle on Design, interviews Yaw Tony, the founder of the Canadian scarf brand Life Liveth in Me, at the Copenhagen International Fashion Fair.
Monocle on Design with Yaw Tony from Yaw Tony on Vimeo.
Artbook
Black Palette Signed Yaw Tony
COLour Odyssey – Opuscule (Collection of ourselves) VOL. I
ISBN 978-1-7781474-0-1
Artbook of textual inspirations, anthropomorphic narratives, and illustrations – explaining each artwork.
Artwork on a much larger scale, a compilation of allegories depicting layers of colours amalgamated into tangible forms and unsearchable riches rendered scenes with operatic drama, capturing moments when the natural order changes, a conversation about what is true-self, what is self-concept, self-value, self-love, self-esteem precolonial and its denouement? producing epic compositions destined to please the eyes.
Each of the artworks is influenced by commonsensical study and the questions of the human heart. These questions summarize the true essence of the human struggle and our expedition for meaning. All human behaviour is motivated by these five questions, which control everything we do. “All our social, economic, spiritual, and relational activities spring from seeking answers to these questions. Personal fulfillment and meaning in life cannot occur until these questions are answered satisfactorily. These questions address the five most important discoveries in the human experience: identity, heritage, purpose, potential, and destiny. They are the heart of the leadership struggle, and when answered, they give birth to authentic (true) leadership.”
- Who am I?
- Where am I from?
- Why am I here?
- What am I capable of doing?
- Where am I going?
All the motifs and details are hand-drawn, painted, and digitalized, then transferred into colours to give them forms and life. The embodiment of the project is meticulously designed for each artwork to stand alone and converse with its viewers.
BLACK PALETTE – COLour Odyssey – (Collection of ourselves)
SIGNED BY YAW TONY
- Who am I? This is a question of identity. The average person doesn’t know who they are?
- Where am I from? This question has nothing to do with ethnicity and yet you must know where you came from.
- Why am I here? This question is of purpose and if you don’t answer it your life will become aimless, useless, and busy without fulfilment. Humans are quietly struggling with this question.
- What can I do? This is a question of potential. One cannot ever know their full potential without the knowledge of purpose (self-discovery). What can you really do?
- Where am I going? This is a question of destination, of finality. Everything irrevocably will come to an end. Where are you going with your life?
NUIT BLANCHE
SIGNED BY YAW TONY
The Judgement of the Eye: (“Eyes that look are common, eyes that see are rare.”)
“Judgement of the Eye” invites audiences to experience new work from “The Colour Odyssey” series, a rich visual art experience.
Eyes that look are common but eyes that see are rare and True BEAUTY is not seen with common eyes for its INNER issue – “The Judgement of the Eye” takes us on a long journey of intertwining narratives. What we see and what we hear are small things compared to what we think because what we think interprets what we see and what we hear. We are products of our culture and interpret the world through our mental conditioning. In connection to the theme, “The Space Between Us,” this work looks at how we can collectively tell new stories that amplify the contributions of all peoples, inviting our diverse beings into open space, reclaiming and understanding the importance of self-discovery as the solution to global nodus (Gordian Knot).
THE COLOUR ODYSSEY
SIGNED BY YAW TONY
03.25.-10.31.2021
The COLour Odyssey (Adinkra Symbols) is an experimental colour and self-discovery project that is created to inspire the exploration of colours in African and Western cultures, specifically as a narrative form: as stories. The COLour Odyssey is a collection of ourselves and a journey through the lore that makes up our pasts, presents, and futures—both individually and collectively. These symbols narrate our inner and collective selves. They are hypocatastatic visionings.
This collection are original pieces created from the interworking of Ghanaian symbolism and Western contexts. While Adinkra as symbols have already made their Western debut, this collection is the adaptation and deconstruction of Adinkra symbols using colour to twist and create a collective storytelling of our modern and ancestral lives.
Different societal ontologies hold different meanings for various colours. Colours elicit variable emotional responses. While I will tell one story, the story that the viewer tells or interprets is variable. Beyond the symbols themselves, the colours move self-discovery. The questions central to the peace demand answers in the interpretation of the colour and symbol story: Who am I? Identity. Where am I from? Source. Why am I here? Purpose. What can I do? Potential. Where am I going? Destiny. The viewer is in conversation with the work and a parable for self emerges
VISUAL INTERCOURSE
SIGNED BY YAW TONY
Visual Intercourse (VI) is an intriguing invitation to explore an eclectic colourful language into a world of visual journeys where indubitably, resplendently, artistry and storytelling are consonant.
Different societal ontologies hold different meanings for various colours. Colours elicit variable emotional responses. While I will tell one story, the story that the viewer tells or interprets is variable. Beyond the symbols themselves, the colours move self-discovery. The questions central to the peace demand answers in the interpretation of the colour and symbol story: Who am I? Identity. Where am I from? Source. Why am I here? Purpose. What can I do? Potential. Where am I going? Destiny. The viewer is in conversation with the work and a parable for self emerges
