About
I work across a variety medium, including hyper-realism drawing, installations, and mixed media.
My work explores a contemporary African identity in the diaspora and examines the intricate details of the
history and experiences of cultural diffusion, and its assimilation, through representation. I am interested
in figurations that engage the potential future of “Black” identity. This “Blackness” is privileged in my work
through materiality, and the layered Pen scribbling technique I employ to create hyperrealist drawings. In
my drawing, I engage this narrative by scribbling lines that build up to create images of a figure. The
layers upon layers of precise scribblings result in the construction of an image. The employment of a
layered technique to create the illusion of realism brings weight and complexity to the drawing. I think
about the shaping, toning, and construction of identity. I think of these figures as a compositional thought
of how they can be represented. The visual image and the future imagery of what should be can be or is
supposed to be expressed. How do we move the image of Blackness toward emancipation? I am
interested in engaging Blackness as a field of tonality. I think about the connections between time and
place that signify representation. How do geographic cites shape our forms? How do migrations shape a
person’s image?
There is another layer of the subject of my work being on paper, which can be viewed as delicate
or fragile or strong if you go back to the original forms of paper, such as papyrus. Papyrus is a material
similar to a thick paper used in ancient times as a writing surface.
Ferguson Amo
Born in Koforidua, Ghana
Lives and works in New York, NY
EDUCATION
2019 MFA School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
2012 BS Accounting - Manhattan College, New York, NY
2012 BA Digital Art - Manhattan College, New York, NY
EXHIBITIONS
2020 The Immigrant Artist Biennial; Mother’s Tongue, Group Show
2020 Showfields Online Exhibition, Group show
2020 UNTITLED ART FAIR, San Francisco, California
2019 Parallels and Peripheries: Migration & Mobility, Washington, DC
2019 This Is What I Call Love, Thesis Exhibition, New York, NY
2019 School of Visual Arts Open Studios, Group Exhibition - New York, NY
2019 Figures of Mixed Identity Arts Exhibition, Curator - New York, NY
2018 School of Visual Arts 4x4, Group Exhibition show - New York, NY
2018 School of Visual Arts Open Studios, Group Exhibition show - New York, NY
2018 International Independent Art Fair, Group Exhibition - Harlem, NY
2017 School of Visual Arts Open Studios, Group Exhibition - New York, NY
2016 Manhattan College Student Show, Curator – Bronx, NY
GRANTS, AWARDS, & RESIDENCIES
2019 The Paula Rhodes Memorial Exceptional MFA Fine Arts Student Award
2019 School of Visual Arts Alumni Thesis Scholarship, New York, NY
2017 – 2019 School of Visual Arts Academics Scholarship, New York, NY
2017 School of Visual Arts, Summer Artist-In-Residence - New York, NY
ACTIVITIES & LEADERSHIP
Founder & President of The Black Alumni Association of School of Visual Arts August 2020 - Current
Board Member of SVA Diversity, Inclusion & Equity, Task Force. September 2020 - Current
Manhattan College D1 MAAC Track & Field Sprinters Captain August 2012 – December 2015 Management Society & Entrepreneurship Society September 2012 – December 2016
Ambassador for Art Department September 2016 – December 2016.
IRS Certified Tax Preparer (Basic) 2016
Publications
2020 Artnet News - Artist selling their work to support Black Lives Matter Movement
2019 Contingent Identity Cards of the African Diaspora. (exhibition booklet)
2019 School Visual Arts Gallery Press Release “Figures of Mixed Identity”
2018 Omeka Online Magazine by Adeoluwa Oluwajoba, “African Identity”.
2017 School of Visual Arts Newsletter “Summer Residency”
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Catalogs
2019 Contingent Identity Cards of the African Diaspora. (exhibition booklet).
https://www.blurb.com/b/9403040