Amoako Boafo: Five Things to Know

The Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo's meteoric rise began when he posted his finger-painted portraits on Instagram while a student in Vienna. Eight years on, the 41-year-old artist will show his latest paintings in a museum show timed to coincide with the 2026 Venice Biennale.

1 - He moved to Vienna in 2014 with his wife, the artist Sunanda Mesquita, to study at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna where he refined his expressive, finger-painting technique.

2 - Turning point: US artist Kehinde Wiley spotted Boafo’s paintings on Instagram in 2018, which opened doors to a solo stand at Art Basel in Miami Beach and a residency at the Rubell Museum.

3 - Jeff Bezos is a fan: Boafo painted three portraits, titled Suborbital Triptych, on the rocket carrying Blue Origin into space.

4 - Record sale: Hands Up sold for $3.42m (HKD26.65m) at Christie's in Hong Kong in December 2021.

5 - Boafo presents new and recent works at the Museo di Palazzo Grimani in Venice in a show co-organized with Gagosian and opening in May 2026.

Image: Boafo’s record-breaking portrait Hands Up (2018). Courtesy of Christie's