Raw, imaginative, larger-than-life original art and an absolute treasure of a collection.
KING KONG LIVES
Leonardo (Edward Lamptey), 1992
PREDATOR
Leonardo (Edward Lamptey), 1993
Leonardo removed Arnold’s T-shirt from the original film still, showing off more of his bare chest. He also replaced Arnold’s gun with a massive serrated knife. The biggest addition, however, is the presence of a bodacious female nude held by the monster – an entirely nonexistent part of the movie
JASON GOES TO HELL
Alex Nkrumah-Boateng, 1994
Severed body parts were a frequent addition to Ghanaian movie posters. They reference the local superstition that modern-day businessmen only obtain their money and success through the purchase of body parts on the black market, which they would then have a witchdoctor perform rituals upon as part of the ”occult economy”. Wealth was seen as a potential sign of evil and corruption during Ghana’s economic freefall.
Few of the details of this poster correlate to anything which occurs in the film
FREEJACK
Alex Nkrumah-Boateng, 1994
Boateng is famous for his extreme attention to detail, naturalistic expression, and three-dimensional perspective, as well as the zig-zag edges of his canvases created through the use of pinking shears to keep the poster’s edges from fraying
ALIENS
D.A. Jasper (Daniel Anum Jasper), ca. 1990
VAMPIRE IN BROOKLYN
Joe Mensah, 1996
More so than Mensah’s other posters, this design draws from the official PAL box cover; however, the has replaced the New York skyline in the lower register with an image of Eddie Murphy in a coffin – a scene that does not appear in the film but which would be attractive to Ghanaians who participate in elaborate, multi-day funerary practices.
The Asanbosam and Sasabonsam are vampire-like figures existing within Asante folklore in Ghana, which may explain the popularity of vampire films in the region
HUNDRA
Joe Mensah, 1993
TERMINATOR 2
Joe Mensah, 1994
Mensah is best known for a vibrant colour palette, lavish detailing, and heavy, voluminous figures. He also is credited with inventing dozens of imaginary firearms to bring excitement to his posters
The ability to recognize a billed star was of little importance in most Ghanaian movie posters – if not for his name in the upper right, Arnold Schwarzenegger could be any action hero
GHOST
D.A. Jasper (Daniel Anum Jasper), ca. 1990
In Ghana, the concept of ghosts coming back for revenge is a powerfully-held belief. Dozens of locally-made films have been made promoting this idea since the mid-1990s. This is one of the rare posters by Jasper which does not replicate a scene from the actual movie
SPLASH
Designer Unknown, ca. 1990
Splash is one of the few American comedies that found success in Ghana. This is primarily because the lead character closely resembles the deity Mami Wata (Mammy Water)
While worshipped throughout Africa, Mami Wata in Ghana is typically depicted as a woman with a fish tail. She is thought to control a paradise under the sea, filled with exotic treasures that she can bestow upon her followers
Her face has been almost entirely worn away because passersby have touched it in veneration
SHEENA
Gilbert Forson, 1995
SUPER GIRL
Bright Obeng (D.A. Obeng), 1999
CHILD’N OF THE CORN 3
Bright Obeng (D.A. Obeng), ca. 1993
TERMINATOR 2
Ridwaas Arts, ca. 1992
EVIL DEAD 2
Death is Wonder (Kofi Kuwornu), ca. 1990
INVASION USA
Dan Nyenkumah, 1994
RAMBO 3
Dan Nyenkumah, 1996
THE SPY WHO LOVE ME
Designer Unknown, ca. 1990
While the artist behind this poster is unknown, the presence of the video club’s name indicates that it originated in Teshie, a coastal town just outside of Accra
It is interesting to note that several mistakes have been painted over, including the word ”you” in the title and the original placement of the video club’s name, now covered by the head of a giant fish
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Lawson Chindayen, 1991
Interestingly, the artist chose to make both Captain America and the villain, Red Skull, black, when they are both white in the film
The building in the lower right more closely resembles many of the Ghanaian Slave Castles – buildings along Ghana’s coast where slaves were imprisoned before being shipped abroad – rather than Red Skull’s Italian villa
CONAN
Francisco (Samuel Mensah), ca. 1990
The tableau of figures emulates a version of the tape box cover; however, the artist has curiously removed Grace Jones, the one black actor from the scene
TICKS
Francisco (Samuel Mensah), 1993
KICK BOXER
Muslim (Muslim Mohammed), 1994
THE BLACK COBRA
Muslim (Muslim Mohammed), 1994
‘‘In 1957, Ghana became the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to gain independence from its colonial power, the United Kingdom. As the world’s leading exporter of cocoa and provider of one-tenth of the world’s gold, its economy was one of the strongest on the continent; however, the complex and unstable political climate that came after independence threw Ghana into decades of economic collapse. Government corruption and financial mismanagement caused established agricultural businesses to fail, and the currency was continuously devalued. Ghanaians needed new, creative ways to make money.
One surprising industry that emerged to meet this need during the 1980s and 1990s was an independent, unregulated network of video distribution that presented pop-up movie screenings in ad hoc movie halls around the country. Many of these spaces had also been used as open-air places of worship for decades. To introduce an audience to this new form of entertainment, posters were hand-painted by local artists on cotton flour sacks and traveled with the films across the countryside.
Baptized by Beefcake presents the work of 22 artists whose posters tell the story of how Western movies not only became symbols of modernity, but also vehicles for religious experience. Each artist’s signature style reflects Ghana’s rich tradition of painting, as well as the influence of Western commercial graphics portrayed on VHS and PAL box covers. The eye-catching, sometimes shocking graphics reference a hybrid of indigenous and Pentecostal symbology, where Rambo and the Terminator become messengers of moral ideologies in a larger-than-life mashup of pop culture and religion” [source]
December 28th, 2019
The Humble Fabulist 