Hamid Nii Nortey ( b.1987) is a self-taught emerging Ghanaian artist whose interest in painting began as a pupil at Manla Dada Basic School in La Accra, Ghana. He was awarded the second best artist in a drawing competition organized across West Africa by Help Age, a nongovernmental organization in the year 2001.  The poster colors, brushes, and drawing cards received helped him in the early days of his journey to becoming an artist.  Throughout his art career, Hamid has explored different avenues of creative art from ceramic, sculpture, graffiti, painting, and fashion design to architectural decoration all in the quest to find his identity.

Hamid’s compelling and colorful figurative paintings delve into Ghana and the continent fast evolving social landscape shedding a light onto its diverse generations and social classes. Inspired by Dutch post-impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh, Nortey’s works are characterized by the signature cross-hatching technique that he applies to the skins of his figures. In contrast with smooth flesh to tones rendered by his subtle and wide-ranging color palette, from sienna brown to burnt umber, his parallel lines, varying in spacing and width across multiple areas, allude to natural skin tones.  He reflects upon his experience in architectural decoration to create scenery works of different element composition, modern home decor, and different image perspectives that resonate and compel his viewers to be physically and emotionally invested in the subject’s story.  As well as create an intriguing dialogue between the subject’s message and the viewer.

 Hamid’s works are intended to lend the world a glance into the lives of people whose stories are yet to be told and trigger emotions of pride, honor, and humor, it’s all the story of his inspirations which words cannot explain.