In Ghana yellow gallon containers occupy a central position as a signal of shortage. The yellow gallon container became necessary for storing water and fuel under the serious shortages.
Acutely aware of his surroundings and the prevalence of the gallons in Ghana, artist Serge Attukwei Clottey began to reimagine the use of these objects as part of an artistic movement.
He is using the yellow oil, to grapple with issues surrounding the environmental, politics and culture in Ghana through a concept that the artist calls Afrogallonism.
Clottey repurposes the oil gallons creating masks and large plastic murals from them, he also uses the masks in public art installations and performances. Afrogallonism is intended to address social issues head on and not remain confined in the gallery space.
"I want to make this piece a very present mask of our time," he says.
The yellow-gallon masks have featured in The Displaced, a sculptural installation and performance piece staged with GoLokal, the performance collective Clottey founded.
Wearing tattered shorts and draped in fishing nets, GoLokal walked through the the artist’s hometown of Labadi to a public installation of Afrogallonism sculptures on the shores of the sea.
The Displaced highlighted the migration story of Clottey’s family and by extension sought to challenge the viewer to examine individual and collective social behaviour.
