Mona Lisa 2020

Cornelius Annor’s painting uses oil on canvas, a venerable and well-understood medium that can nonetheless yield very interesting results in the right hands. Here, the artist uses its capacity for blending and smooth tonal variation to create an intriguing study of an interior space, occupied by a young girl. Oil paint can be manipulated in an infinite number of ways – thick or thin, matte or glossy, sharply delineated or soft-edged. Annor opts for the latter approach. Notice the way he has built up the face with subtle gradations, as also the planes of her simple dress. These are set against the backdrop of layered textures: the wallpaper, the dark wooden frame, and the collage of photographs behind the figure. Oil paint has been associated with the Western tradition of fine art for centuries, and also with wealth and power. By using this medium to depict a domestic interior in Ghana, Annor asks us to consider the global circulation of materials and images, and the way painting can be used to make visible everyday moments of life.