Kofi Kayiga (born December 1943), JamaicaArts.com. formerly known as Ricardo Wilkins, is a
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
n-born artist and educator, who migrated to the US, after periods spent in the UK and
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...
. He has exhibited widely internationally and since the 1960s has taught fine art at various institutions, becoming a professor at the
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Massachusetts College of Art and Design, branded as MassArt, is a public college of visual and applied art in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1873, it is one of the nation’s oldest art schools, the only publicly funded independent art school ...
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, to Jamaican and Cuban parents, he studied at the Jamaica School of Art, and won a government scholarship that enabled him to go to
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
to pursue a master's degree in Fine Art at the
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It o ...
(1971).
He was a lecturer at
Makerere University
Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of n ...
in
Kampala, Uganda
Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...
, in the early 1970s, and from 1973 to 1981 he was head of the painting department at the Jamaica School of Art. He was artist-in-residence at the College of Holy Cross,
Worcester, MA
Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 census, making it the second- most populous city in New England after B ...
(1980–1983), and went on to become a professor at
Massachusetts College of Art
Massachusetts College of Art and Design, branded as MassArt, is a public college of visual and applied art in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1873, it is one of the nation’s oldest art schools, the only publicly funded independent art school ...
,
Boston, MA
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most ...
.
His work has been characterised as influenced by
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and by Jamaican folklore and religious themes. In the words of the art historian
Petrine Archer-Straw
Petrine Archer-Straw (26 December 1956 – 5 December 2012) was a British artist and influential art historian and curator who specialised in the art of the Caribbean people.Garvey and Rastafari, Kayiga's world is not one of idealism mediated through the diaspora experience. Instead, he is the only artist who channeled a first-hand experience of Africa into his work, resulting in an immediacy and directness that consists of bold strokes, vibrant colour fields and symbolic language."
In 2015, Kayiga's work features exhibition '' No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960–1990'' at the
Guildhall Art Gallery
The Guildhall Art Gallery houses the art collection of the City of London, England. The museum is located in the Moorgate area of the City of London. It is a stone building in a semi-Gothic style intended to be sympathetic to the historic Guil ...
,
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...
.FHALMA (Friends of the Huntley Archives at
London Metropolitan Archives
The London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) is the principal local government archive repository for the Greater London area, including the City of London: it is the largest county record office in the United Kingdom. It was established under its pr ...
;Solo
*2013, ''Kofi Kayiga at 70'', Multitudes Gallery, Miami, FL, USA.
*2005, ''Kayiga: SpiritHue'', Bunker Hill Community College Art Gallery, Boston, MA, USA.
*2000, Riverside Gallery, St Ann, Trinidad.
*1998, ''Of Spirit and Technology — 30-Year Retrospective, Kingdom Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA.
*1998, ''Mystical Images'', Lafayette College, Black Culture Center, USA.
*1996, Gateway 4, Newark, New Jersey, USA.
*1994, Mutual Life Gallery, Kingston, Jamaica.
*1990–91, Museum of African American Life and Culture,
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
, USA.
*1983, ''Paintings and Drawings'', Brownagree Gallery,
Commonwealth Institute
The Commonwealth Education Trust is a registered charity established in 2007 as the successor trust to the Commonwealth Institute. The trust focuses on primary and secondary education and the training of teachers and invests on educational pro ...
, London, UK.
*1981, ''Major Works'', Museum of the National Centre of Afro American Artists, Boston, MA, USA.
*1979, ''Drawings'', Mercer Arts Salon New York, NY, USA.
*1975, Nine-Year Retrospective, Olympia International Art Centre, Kingston, Jamaica.
*1972, Paintings,
West Indian Students' Centre
The West Indian Students' Centre (WISC) was located at 1 Collingham Gardens, Earls Court, London, in a building bought with the support of West Indian governments, and officially opened on 1 June 1955 by Princess Margaret.David Clover"Dispersed or ...
, London, UK.
*1971, Paintings and Drawings, Nomo Gallery,
Kampala, Uganda
Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...
Guildhall Art Gallery
The Guildhall Art Gallery houses the art collection of the City of London, England. The museum is located in the Moorgate area of the City of London. It is a stone building in a semi-Gothic style intended to be sympathetic to the historic Guil ...
,
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...
, UK.
*2005, ''Back to Black'',
Whitechapel Gallery
The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery in Whitechapel on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The original building, designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, opened in 1901 as one of the fir ...
and touring, UK.
*1998–99, Four Group Shows, Kingdom Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA.
*1998, ''Black as Colour: Art, Cinema, and the Racial Imaginary'', National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston.
*1997, Mutual Life Gallery, Kingston, Jamaica.
*1992, Cecil Cooper, Kofi Kayiga, Bryan McFarlane, Parish Gallery, Washington, D.C., USA.
*1991, Travelling Exhibit, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, USA.
*1990, ''Forty Years: Edna Manley School for the Visual Arts'', National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston.
*1989–90, ''Black Art Ancestral Legacy'', Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, USA.
*1988, ''Works on Paper'', Institute of Contemporary Arts, Boston, MA, USA.
*1986, Anniversary Group Exhibit, Contemporary Art Centre, Kingston Jamaica.
*1983, Museum of the National Centre of Afro American Artists, Boston, MA, USA.
*1978, ''Eleven Jamaican Painters'',
Caracas, Venezuela
Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...
.
*1972–92, ''Annual National Exhibition'', National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston.