SoVA Anderson Lecturer
Yaw Owusu
Anderson Lecture – October 21, 2025
Owusu creates sculptural paintings and installations by transforming otherwise worthless materials into valuable objects and encounters. He uses the smallest denomination of currencies – coins, stainless steel, wood, copper, found objects, and social engagements. Through processes involving oxidation, plating, and other experimental activities that alter the texture and color of these materials into anything but their natural qualities, akin to the minting of coins today.
His work penetrates the histories of trade, exchange, and labor, questioning the foundations of contemporary economies while exploring the transient nature of value across various cultural and economic contexts. The approach is rooted in a deep sense of playful alchemy that embraces the complexity of currency, symbolism, and meaning.
Like the copper-plated steel Ghana pesewas, minted by the Royal Canadian Mint – a failed attempt to curb inflation since 2007 – his work highlights the crucial question of Africa's economic independence. Similarly, the US penny, which features Abraham Lincoln's legacy of emancipation, prompts a reflection on the meaning of freedom today.
These compositions are influenced by urban landscapes, architecture, historic iconography, and abstraction. By juxtaposing these different currencies and objects, the works investigate the multiplicity of what value can become. These installations and engagements reflect the complex situations that define present-day social and political systems. Like the economy, the works seem robust in their dense façade, yet are in flux, continually interacting with their surroundings. These curiosities mediate the question of how value is created and deconstructed.
Owusu’s works have been exhibited across the world in both private and public institutions including The Brooklyn Museum, Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden, Institute of Contemporary Art San Diego, Wiereld Museum Lieden, Sotheby’s Institute New York, Gallery 1957 London and Accra, Efie Gallery UAE, Ross + Kramer Gallery New York, Christies London, Johnson Lowe Gallery Atlanta, University of Delaware, and the Museum of Science and Technology Ghana.
His works are included in permanent collections of The World Bank, Meta, the Presidential Residence of Ghana, Foundation H (Madagascar), Wells Fargo USA, Access Bank, Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden (Marrakech, Morocco), and Shylon Museum in Nigeria. He has been featured in articles and publications in Nka Journal, Architectural Digest, Gulf News, Khaleej Times, and Time Out New York.
Owusu is the recipient of the 2018 Kuenyehia Art Prize for contemporary Ghanaian Art. He holds a BFA in Fine Art from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and an MFA in Integrated Practices from Pratt Institute, where he received the Pratt Circle Honorary Award. He currently lives and works in New York.
Artist's Statement
Like the copper-plated steel Ghana pesewas, minted by the Royal Canadian Mint – a failed attempt to curb inflation since 2007 – the question of Africa's economic independence becomes crucial in my work. In the instance of the US penny, with Abraham Lincoln's legacy of emancipation on the coin, I ask the question of what freedom means today.
I create sculptural paintings and installations by shifting otherwise worthless materials into encounters of value. I use the least denomination of coins, stainless steel, wood, copper, found objects, and social engagements. My processes involve oxidation, plating, and other experimental activities that transform the texture and color of these materials into anything but their natural qualities, like the minting of coins today.
My work penetrates the histories of trade, exchange, and labor to question the foundations of contemporary economies. The work explores the transient nature of value across varied cultural and economic contexts – an approach rooted in a deep sense of playful alchemy that embraces the complexity of currency, symbolism, and meaning.
My compositions reflect and are influenced by urban landscapes, architecture, historic iconography, and abstraction. While juxtaposing these different currencies and objects, I investigate the multiplicity of what value can become. These installations and engagements reflect on the complex situations that demarcate present-day social and political systems. Like the economy, the works seem robust in their dense façade, yet in flux and constant movement with their surroundings. These curiosities act as a mediation between the question of how value in itself is made and unmade.