Kofi Setordji Ghana, b. 1957
Kofi Setordji is a Ghanaian sculptor, painter, and photographer whose practice spans over five decades
Widely regarded as one of the most influential contemporary artists of his generation in Ghana, his work engages with history, daily life, and the social realities of his environment. Setordji is known for his material versatility, employing wood, metal, bronze, terracotta, and stone alongside unconventional supports.
Largely self-taught, Setordji trained as a commercial artist after secondary school, working as a graphic designer and billboard painter. He apprenticed under cartoonist Ghanatta Yaw Boakye and later studied sculpture with Saka Acquaye between 1984 and 1988. His practice developed through an experimental approach, including the fabrication of his own tools, which informs his distinctive handling of line and form.
Setordji has exhibited internationally in France, Italy, Denmark, Germany, Austria, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, and the United States, and participated in the 2000 edition of the Dakar Biennale. He is a co-founder and former creative director of the Nubuke Foundation in Accra, where he also presented a retrospective in 2012, and continues to mentor younger artists through his ARThaus complex. In 2018, he was awarded the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Creative Arts Fellowship. A major public sculpture by the artist stands in front of the National Theatre of Ghana in Accra.
