Serge Attukwey Clottey

Ghana, 1985

BiographySerge Attukwei Clottey is a multidisciplinary artist from Ghana who works across installation, painting, sculpture, photography and performance. Clottey has coined the term ‘Afrogallonism’ for his body of work that uses yellow plastic jerrycans (known locally as ‘Kufuor gallons’) to highlight the socioeconomic, cultural and environmental legacies of colonialism. The jerrycans, first used by Europeans importing cooking oil into Ghana, became associated with President John Kufuor at a time of acute water scarcity when they were used by Ghanaians to carry water for everyday use.

Serge Clottey and his team stitch together pieces of these discarded plastic containers and other waste materials to construct elaborate, tapestry-like installations reminiscent of Ghana’s kente cloths. These works express concerns about water scarcity in Ghana, and the environmental implications of the widespread use of plastic in our daily lives. His aim is to raise awareness locally of the large quantities of plastic waste that clog up water systems and endanger wildlife habitats along the coast, and also globally of the need to conserve water.

In his recent work, Clottey explores ideas about material culture, social media and identity formation in a series of portraits that draw inspiration from 20th century West African studio photography. In these works, his African and African American subjects assert their agency and personhood, using fashion to “tell stories about themselves, their communities and their continent.”

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