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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.