Emma Prempeh
About
Emma Prempeh is a British artist with Ghanaian and Vincentian heritage based in London.
She studied Fine Art at Goldsmiths University of London, graduating in 2019 winning the Alumno/SPACE Studio Bursary award for 2020. In 2019 she won 1st place for the Ingram Collection Purchase Prize and was shortlisted as a participating artist in Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2019. She exhibited her first international solo show In and Out of Time in Accra, Ghana in 2021.
She is currently a recipient of the Leverhulme Trust Arts Scholarship.
SELECT SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021 In And Out Of Time, AdaContemporary Art Gallery, Accra
2020 Raise Your Glass, The LightBox Gallery and Museum, Woking
2020 The Faces Of Love, V.O Curations post residency solo show, Marylebone, London
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022 Spaces In Between, W1 Curates, Oxford street, London
2022 On Love, HOME by Ronan Mckenzie, Islington, London
2022 Friends And Family, Pi Artworks, Fitzrovia, London
2021 At Peace, Gillian Jason Gallery, Fitzrovia, London
2021 Mother Of Mankind, Ada Contemporary Gallery X Hofa Gallery, Mayfair, London
2021 Heart Of The Matter, Gillian Jason Gallery, Online
2020 Ing Discerning Eye Exhibition, Online
2020 Onward And Upward- Art In The Garden Of Life, Droog Gallery, 7A Staalstraat, Amsterdam
2020 Redressing The Balance #Woman Artists -The Lightbox, Woking
2020 Bloomberg New Contemporaries -South London Gallery, London
2019 Young Contemporary Talent Purchase Prize Exhibition, The Cello Factory, London
2019 Graduate Art Prize Shortlist Exhibition, Herbert Smith Freehalls , London
2019 Bloomberg New Contemporaries, Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds
2019 Flock at the Buday Graduate Exhibition, At The Buday, London
2019 The Table Exhibition, Swiss Church, London
Degree Details
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Statement
Prempeh's Current Paintings depict familiar aspects of her Caribbean domestic life through a focus on interiors and moods. The paintings are expanded through physical elements within the space intertwining with viewers as the partially defined figures and objects float freely through the space they inhabit.
Hints of imitation gold leaf portray the transitional journey between life and death, symbolising the memories family members leave behind when they pass away. Over time, the material deteriorates, much like we fade as we age. The patterns, objects and atmosphere bring in elements of her British Caribbean upbringing to play upon the notion of distant memories to recall feelings of nostalgia, loss, and intimacy.
Come Way Are We Go
You take a photo, she beams and the two men sit behind enjoying a drink, his phone rings, he beacons to the other ''Come way are we go''
Medium: Oil, Acrylic, Iron Powder, Print and Imitation Gold Leaf on Canvas
Size: 76.2 x 121.9 cm
Go Liming
Conversation, food, drink and laughter - Liming
Medium: Oil. Acrylic, Iron Powder and Imitation Gold Leaf on Canvas
Size: 190 x 145 cm
And So On
Et sic infinitum, a black women's version. Life After Death
Medium: Oil. Acrylic, Iron Powder and Imitation Gold Leaf on Canvas with Projection
Size: 200 x 320 cm
Install View
Install shot of Go Liming, Come way are we go and And So On
De Speeltuin
''De Speeltuin is an important piece from the development of my practice recently''
''De Speeltuin Depicts one half of a family portrait taken in Amsterdam as a child. The adult figures represent fragments of broken relationships and distance. Unlike saying - I forgive you for leaving me to grow on my own - this portrait tries to capture the importance of my mother and the absence of my father. The playground De Speeltuin attempts to capture the spirit of a child becoming at peace within a serious environment through play.”
Medium: Oil, acrylic, imitation gold leaf, print and paper on canvas
Size: 190 x 145 cm