Born: 1967, Ghana

Farkira, given name Ebanezer Adjetey Mensah was born in the Accra region of Ghana in 1967. As a child, he began listening to Reggae music, particularly that of Bob Marley. In his teenage years, he adopted the basic tenants of the Rastafarian lifestyle as espoused by Bob Marley in his music. This sense of peacefulness and harmony between peoples became the theme of many of his paintings. Farkira, his nick name for 30 years, a humble man who lives simply and paints voraciously, is known in Ghana for his “praise portraits”, often in black and white, and on recycled plywood, of many world celebrities and leaders, but most particularly of musicians who have followed the Rastafarian way of life.

© 2014  Ernie Wolfe Gallery

EXHIBITIONS:

1998:  “Bill and Nelson: Praise Portraits”, Ernie Wolfe Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

1998: “African Hairways”, Ernie Wolfe Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 

2009: Out of Africa: Obama and McCain Praise Portraits and Visual Narratives, Ernie Wolfe Gallery, Los Angeles; Reviewed in the Los Angeles Times on May 21, 1999, by art critic David Pagel

2009: “No This Is It: Michael Jackson, 25 Years of Praise Portraits”, Ernie Wolfe Gallery

2012: “Michael Jackson in the After-Life: Praise Portraits and Commentary Paintings from Ghana”, Ernie Wolfe Gallery, Los Angeles

2013: “Viva Mandela!”, Ernie Wolfe Gallery, Los Angeles

2014: “Ghana Pop”, Ernie Wolfe Gallery, Los Angeles

2019 – 2020, Praise Portraits from Ghana: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!, Ernie Wolfe Gallery, Los Angeles

PUBLICATION:

2009: African Arts, Volume 42, number 3, 20, Autumn 2009, “The Radiance of the King”, Don Cosentino