Baanu Asetena 2021

Cornelius Annor’s “Baanu Asetena” is an invitation, painted in that light, hazy style, with figures emerging from a pale blue ground, somewhere between memory and reality. I can imagine Annor starting with the shirts. So much detail! What must it have been like to spend so long on the fabric? The patterns almost take on a life of their own, each a little world, a visual feast of shape and color, and I keep thinking of the way those worlds collide and interact. The dark shadow of the man, the way he rests his head on his hand. He looks like he is thinking deeply. There's something really generous about portraiture, about really looking at someone, and Annor captures something here. It’s a mood that's both specific and universal. The paintings of Lynette Yiadom-Boakye come to mind; these painters are in conversation, opening a space of imagination through a quiet, intimate gaze. It leaves me wondering about the painting itself.