Biography

Ibrahim Mahama was born in Tamale, Ghana in 1987 where he currently lives and works.

Mahama obtained a MFA in Painting and Sculpture in 2013 and a BFA in Painting in 2010 at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.

His work was shown during the last 56^th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale in Italy All The World’s Futures curated by Okwui Enwezor in 2015.

His solo shows includes: Material Effects, Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Michigan State University, Michigan, USA (2015) and Civil Occupation, Ellis King, Dublin (2014); Factory machines and trucks, Kumasi, Ghana (2013) and Cannon Wax, Jamestown, Accra, Ghana (2013).

Mahama has exhibited in various locations in and around Kumasi and Accra as well as at the KNUST Museum in Kumasi. Other recent shows include: Edson Chagas / Ibrahim Mahama, Apalazzo Gallery, Brescia, Italy (2015); Broken English, Tyburn Gallery, London, UK (2015); Pangaea II New Art from Africa and Latin America, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK (2015); Material Effects, Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum Michigan State University, Michigan, USA (2015) and Silence between the Lines: Anagrams of emancipated Futures, K.N.U.S.T, Jackson, Contemporary Art Centre, Ghana (2015).

Education

2013

MFA Painting and Sculpture, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.

2010

BFA Painting, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2017

Fragments, White Cube, London, UK.

2015

Material Effects, Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Michigan State University, Michigan, USA.

2014

Civil Occupation, Ellis King, Dublin.

2013

Kawokudi, Coal Sack Installation, Accra, Ghana.

Nima, Coal Sack Installation, Accra, Ghana.

Adum, Coal Sack Installation, Railway Station, Kumasi, Ghana.

Jute, What Is Art? K.N.U.S.T Museum, Kumasi, Ghana.

Factory machines and trucks, Kumasi, Ghana.

Cannon Wax, Jamestown, Accra, Ghana.

2012

Sisala Coal Market, Coal Sack Installation, Newtown, Accra, Ghana.

Trading Identities, MFA Block, Kumasi, Ghana.

2011

The Colonized Body, Kokomlemle, Accra, Ghana.

2010

Class and Identity, K.N.U.S.T, Kumasi, Ghana.

2009

Class and Identity, K.N.U.S.T, Kumasi, Ghana.

Selected Group Exhibitions

2017

Documenta 14, Athens, Greece and Kassel, Germany.

2015

Broken English, Tyburn Gallery, London, UK.

All The World’s Futures, Arsenale, 56th Biennale di Venezia, Venezia, Italy. (C)

Pangaea II New Art from Africa and Latin America, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK.

Edson Chagas / Ibrahim Mahama, Apalazzo Gallery, Brescia, Italy.

Material Effects, Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum Michigan State University, Michigan, USA.

Silence between the Lines: Anagrams of emancipated Futures, K.N.U.S.T, Jackson, Contemporary Art Centre, Ghana.

2014

Pangaea New Art from Africa and Latin America, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK. (C)

Masked and Unmasked, Dak’Art OFF, Saint Louis, Senegal.

The Divine Comedy, Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany. (C)

2011

Illumination, Installation, K.N.U.S.T Museum, Kumasi, Ghana.

2009

Hatching Out, K.N.U.S.T Museum, Kumasi, Ghana.

Artist talks & Lectures

2014

Department of painting, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.

2013

FCA CCA residency Kumasi, Ghana.

Department of painting, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.

2012

Osei Tutu Senior High School, Ghana.

Department of painting, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.

Seymour Art Collective, London, UK.

2008

Senior High School, Tamale, Ghana.

Vittin Senior High School, Tamale, Ghana..

Kalpohin Senior High Scholl, Tamale Ghana.

Monographs

2015

Bonsu, Osei (ed.), Out of bounds. Ibrahim Mahama, CRANE Editions, 2015.

Publications

2015

Pangaea II: New Art from Africa & Latin America, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK, 2015. (C)

Enwezor, Okwui, All The World’s Futures, Arsenale, 56th Biennale di Venezia, Rizzoli International Publications, Incorporated, Italy, 2015. (C)

2014

Agenda Angola. Edson Chagas & Colecçao Ensa-arte, Guido Schlinkert, Espera, Rome, Italy, 2014.

Pangaea: New Art from Africa & Latin America, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK, 2014. (C)

Ambrožič, Mara, Njami, Simon (eds.), The Divine Comedy: Heaven, Purgatory and Hell Revisited by Contemporary African Artists, Kerber Verlag, Bielefeld, Germany 2014. (C)

Bouwhuis, Jelle, Winking, Kerstin (eds.), Project 1975, Contemporary Art and the Postcolonial Unconscious, Black Dog Publishing, London UK, 2014. (C)

Residencies

2017

Occupy Atopos Residency, part of Documenta 14, Athens and Kassel.

2015

Øksnehallen, Copenaghen, Denmark.

2014

OFKOB Residency, Ofoase, Kokobeng, Ghana.

2013

OFKOB Residency, Ofoase, Kokobeng, Ghana.

Gasworks Residency, London, UK.

2012

Hilmsen Residency, Hilmsen, Germany.

Awards

2010

Paa Kwame Award, Department of Painting, College of Art, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana.

Collections

Saatchi Gallery, London, UK.