Ghanaian Artist Immortalises Nelson Mandela In Charcoal

The death of former South African leader, Nelson Mandela has only triggered waves of tributes across the world and equally inspired artists to immortalize his memory in different forms and shapes. From music, movies and to paintings, his images continue to trend across the world. And on Saturday 14 at 5pm at the Villa Monticello, young Ghanaian artist, Kendal Nkrumah will exhibit, for the first time, some of the fine images he has of the late leader. Other images that will be on display include that of US President Barack Obama, reggae legend Bob Marley and those of ordinary people doing extraordinary things in their respective lives. A product of Mfantsipim School and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kendall Nkrumah was inspired by relatives who painted, sculpted and designed attention grabbing artwork. His love for art was manifest early in his life as he started drawing at a tender age- doodling and painting on any substrate he could lay his hands on, often incurring the wrath of his siblings who could not understand why he chose their books as his canvas. During his junior high school days, he was fond of technical skills and technical drawing, subjects that, according to him, afforded him the opportunity to stimulate his imagination as well as improve upon his strokes. Most times, he would hastily finish up his work and assist his classmates. He went to Mfantsipim School to a course in Visual Arts in 1995, where he defied negative sentiments to pursue the love of his life; arts. �At the time, courses in fine art were perceived to be the preserve of "weaker" students who could not make it into the science-based courses. In spite of these negative connotations, Kendall remained resolute and rather took advantage of the excellent tutelage and continued honing his talent in fine art. After experimenting with oils, Pastels and Watercolour, Kendall began his journey with drawings in Pencil and Charcoal. With time, he developed further and identified charcoal as his "weapon" of choice. He setup the 'FINESTROKES' brand in September 2007, and the main objective is to create a niche in portrait art done in charcoal.