In his 75th Anniversary show, Ablade Glover, one of Ghana’s foremost painters, will exhibit a selection of work revealing his lifelong passion for life, activity and colour. Using warm pigments expressive of the sun and heat of his country, Glover depicts vibrant scenes that mirror the exuberant variety of Africa; the bustling market stalls, the brightly-attired crowds and all the energy of Ghana.

Glover insists that oil painting has an integral part to play in the contemporary arts of Africa, both as a means of individual expression and as a potent medium in which to record and celebrate the visual richness of the continent. In the New African Life (Dec 1995) magazine, Anver Versi had this to say of a visit to Glover’s studio in Accra, “…there, hanging on the wall, was the whole market painted in throbbing, bright colours. When you looked at it for some time, the painting seemed to resolve into three dimensions and you could see, individual people walking about, trading, talking, laughing, and, I swear, I felt I could even hear the sounds of the market as well!”

Trained in Ghana, Britain and the United States, Dr. Glover has accumulated a number of distinctions, which underline his significance as an artist and enthusiastic educator both in Ghana and on the international art scene. Until 1994 he was Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Art Education and Dean of the College of Art at the University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. More recently, he was awarded the Distinguished AFGRAD Alumni Award by the African-American Institute in New York, and he is a Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Art in London. At present he occupies a significant place in Ghana’s contemporary art scene, as founder and director of the internationally acclaimed Artists Alliance Gallery in Accra, Ghana, which was officially opened by the Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. This purpose-built space supports local artists and presents both traditional and contemporary African art. The universality of Glover’s work is reflected in the breadth and variety of his collectors. His work can be found in such diverse public and private collections around the world as the Imperial Palace Collection of Japan, the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport amongst others. He has exhibited extensively in West Africa, Europe, the USA and Japan.