Atta Kwami (b. 1956, Accra, Ghana, d. 2021, UK) composed works of vibrant geometric patterns that are inspired by a wide range of influences, from Ewe and Assante cloth to jazz, the tradition of mural painting and the design of street kiosks along the roads of West-African towns. Kwami is known for expanding the notions of painting, basing his practice both in the visual world of his native Ghana and in reflections on modernism.

In 2021, the year he died, he was awarded the prestigious Maria Lassnig prize, which recognised later career artists deserving wider career recognition, and, in 2022, The Serpentine unveiled the final public mural commission by Kwami, ‘DzidzƆ kple amenuveve (Joy and Grace)’, which remained on view until September 2024. This Spring, the Serpentine will publish a monograph edited by Melissa Blanchflower titled ‘Atta Kwami’, with Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König, Köln supported by The Maria Lassnig Foundation and marking the first publication dedicated to Kwami’s practice.

Kwami’s work has been exhibited widely, notably creating large-scale public art commissions such as at the Folkestone Triennial in 2021 for which the artist made short-term alien interventions in the landscape. Solo exhibitions include: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC (1994-1995), SOAS, University College of London (1995), Geometric Organic, National Museum Accra (1998-1999) and Kunsthalle Basel, Basel (2001).

Collections include: the National Museums of Ghana and Kenya; the V&A Museum, London; British Museum, London; the National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York.