FAMOUS ARTIST Joseph Kojo Hoggar

Joseph Kojo Hoggar born in 1999 in Accra, Ghana. Is a contemporary artist whose practice explores themes of mortality, pleasure, and symbolism through painting, photography, and performance.

He earned his BFA from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in 2022 and is currently pursuing an MFA in Studio Art at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Hoggar’s debut solo exhibition, Vanités (Galerie Christophe Person, Paris, 2023), presented striking appropriations of Old Master compositions, reflecting his fascination with Dutch Vanitas and Caravaggio.
His work combines life-size portraits, symbolic objects such as skulls and lanterns, and collaged African wax prints to examine life’s transience and cultural histories. His art is held in notable collections, including the Foundation Gandur pour l’Art in Geneva, and has been featured at the London Art Fair and Janet Rady Fine Art Gallery. Hoggar currently lives and works in the United States.
Uses mixed media and collage to create layered reference photos, then sketches, paints, and collages. Themes: transience of life, death (“inevitability of death”), earthly achievements, and the modern black male experience. He often reinterprets symbolic objects (skulls, timepieces, classical still life) in his works with a personal/cultural twist.
Drawing inspiration from the Old Masters such as Rembrandt, Caravaggio, and Holbein, he blends European iconography with African lived realities, exploring themes of mortality, identity, and cultural memory. Hoggar has held notable exhibitions, including his first monographic show Vanités at Galerie Christophe Person in Paris (March–April 2023), while his works like Self Love (2022) and Guild of Artists (2022) have been featured in group exhibitions and on platforms such as Artsy. Recognized for his talent and potential, he won the 2023 Kuenyehia Prize for Contemporary Arts, cementing his status as a rising voice in West African art. Represented by Janet Rady Fine Art, his portraits and layered compositions have attracted international attention, with media coverage highlighting his innovative reimagining of the vanitas tradition through an Afro-centric perspective.