Augustine Kofie American, b. 1973
Founded in 2010, Graffuturism is a movement showing a group of artists coming from graffiti, having made the step of deconstructing the letter towards an abstraction of forms, inspired by the structure and the movement of the city. Augustine Kofie was considered the leader of this worldwide movement from the beginning.
Born in Los Angeles, Augustine Kofie discovered graffiti in the late 80s, immersed in the skate culture that surrounded him. Inspired by the shape and structure of letters, Augustine Kofie tamed them, destructuring them to then rebuild them, with an unpa- ralleled technical mastery of spatiality. The artist began to exhibit in galleries in 2002, and his 2009 exhibition Vintage Futurism (Zero1 Gallery, L.A) marked a turning point in his career, laying the foundations for his current work. Augustine Kofie develops his mastery of scale and movement in works full of lines and structured shapes. And a vintage feel also pervades his work; from the 60s magazine illustrations he uses for his collages to the salvaged materials he uses as media, through his choice of colours. Augustine Kofie collaborates with American galleries in New York and Los Angeles, and with a gallery in Denmark and since 2013 has been represented in France by Galerie Chenus Longhi and the exhibitions' cycle it has organised on the theme of Graffuturism.
It may be understood in thirty years or so that Augustine Kofie is to Graffuturism what Jackson Pollock is to Action Painting. But it must be understood now that he is one of the most gifted American abstract artists of his generation. His relationship to form is based on both an architectural geometric rigour in the lines and angles - which become more and more acute as the years go by - and on the harmony of the colours - which become softer and softer - as well as the curves, circles and semicircles that structure the composition. The music remains central and guides all his gestures, with a perpetual search for balance between control and improvisation evoking free jazz.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 - Undercurrents, Chenus Longhi, Paris (FR)
2022 - Prisma, Kirk Gallery, Aalborg (DK)
2022 - Rotationships, Heron Arts, San Francisco (US)
2021 - State of Mind, Hashimoto Gallery, New York (US)
2020 - RETROperspectives, SpaceJunk Art Centers, Lyon (FR)
2020 - Adventures in Tonality, Galerie Chenus Longhi, Paris (FR)
2019 - Darkest Before the Dawn, StolenSpace Gallery, London (UK)
2018 - MKNZM, Swinton Gallery, Madrid (ES)
2017 - Build From Memory, Galerie Chenus Longhi, Paris (FR)
2016 - Above the streets (projet outdoor), Art Share, Los Angeles (US)
2015 - Inventory, Jonathan LeVine Gallery, New York (US)
2014 - Taking Shape, Galerie Chenus Longhi, off site x Bastille Design Center, Paris (FR)
2014 - Yesterday Advance, Celaya Brothers Gallery, Mexico City (MX)
2013 - Structurally Sound, White Walls, San Francisco (US)
2013 - California Soul, Galerie Chenus Longhi, Paris (FR)
2012 - Working an Angle, Known Gallery, Los Angeles (US)
2011 - Circulatory System, White Walls, San Francisco (US)
2010 - Retrofited & and Other Forms of Vintage Futurism, White Walls, San Francisco (US)
2009 - Vintage Futurism, Zero1 Gallery, Los Angeles (US)
2006 - Hands On, Transport Gallery, Los Angeles (US)
2006 - Electric Avenue, Bent Gallery, Pasadena (US)
GROUP EXHIBITIONS AND ART FAIRS
2022 - Pattern Recognition, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont (US)
2022 - Forme(s) Collective, residency, Grayan-et-Hopital (FR)
2021 - Upside Down, Kirk Gallery, Aalborg (DK)
2021 - Detour Art Herning, Kirk Gallery, Aalborg (DK)
2021 - Group show with Galerie Chenus Longhi at Urban Art Fair, Paris (FR)
2020 - Fair Play, Galerie Chenus Longhi, Paris (FR)
2020 - Multiples, Hashimoto Contemporary, New York (US)
2020 - Inside Out, Kirk Gallery, Aalborg (DK)
2020 - In Formation, Hashimoto Contemporary, New York (US)
2019 - Group show, David Bloch Gallery, Marrakech (MO)
2018 - Abstract Street Art, SpaceJunk Gallery, Bayonne (FR)
2017 - Welcome to New Jersey | Jonathan LeVine Gallery, Jersey City (US)
2017 - Reset | Athen B Gallery, Oakland (US)
2017 - Mini Wiconi | Tangent Gallery, Détroit (US)
2017 - Group show with Galerie Chenus Longhi at Urban Art Fair, Paris (FR)
2016 -Please Don’t Touch !, Galerie Chenus Longhi, Paris (FR)
2016 - Grand Opening | Matthew Namour Gallery, Montréal (CA)
2016 - Brick to Canvas | Tinney Contemporary, Nashville (US)
2016 - Exceptional | Scream, Londres (UK)
2015 - Cosmic Flush: Celebrating the life and work of the legendary Rammellzee | Gamma Proforma, London (UK)
2015 - Go! [Grand Opening], Galerie Chenus Longhi, Paris (FR)
2014 - Assioma, 2 person show with Moneyless, Avant Garden Gallery, Milan (IT)
2014 - Exhibit Z | Library Street Collective, Détroit (US)
2013 L’Avenir, Shooting Gallery, San Francisco (US)
2013 - Three The Hard Way, Breeze Block Gallery, Portland (US)
2013 - Wilder Than a Postcard, Breeze Block Gallery, Portland (US)
2013 - Urban Art ! Biennale 2013, Völklinger Hütte, Völklingen (DE)
2012 - Graffuuturism, Soze Gallery, Los Angeles (US)
2012 - Conversations, 2 person show with Jaybo Monk, Soze Gallery, Los Angeles (US)
2012 - Gather, 2 person show with Paul Senyol, The Lovell Gallery, Cape Town (ZA)
2011 - Assorted Flavor, Known Gallery, Los Angeles (US)
2011 - Rudimentary Perfection, Galerie Recoat, Glasgow (SC)
2011 - Street Cred, PMCA, Los Angeles (US)
2010 - Street Legal / Mear One, Kofie, Retna & El Mac, Rivera&Rivera Gallery, Los Angeles (US)
2010 - Never a Dull Moment, White Walls, San Francisco (US)
2010 - Contemporary Corruption Revisited, Mid-City Arts Gallery, Los Angeles (US)
2009 - Climb In The Back Window, Shadows Spaces Gallery, Philadelphie (US)
2009 - Metallum, duo x Codak, Ronin Gallery, Los Angeles (US)
2007 - From LA With Love Installation, The A+D Museum, Los Angeles (US)
2007 - Thanks, 2 person show with Frohawk Two-Feathers, Unitard Gallery, Los Angeles (US)
2005 - New Works, 2 person show with Craola Greg Simkins, Fifty24SF Gallery, San Francisco (US)
2002 - Hotsy Dunk, The Produce Department Gallery, Los Angeles (US)
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Violetter, 2023Acrylic on canvas160 x 150 cm€ 9,600.00 -
Grand Gesture, 2023Acrylic on canvas100 x 200 cm€ 9,000.00
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Sigh of Bliss, 2023Acrylic on canvas120 x 160 cm€ 8,600.00
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Humrush, 2023Acrylic on canvas130 x 100 cm€ 6,600.00
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Quiet Storm, 2023Acrylic on canvas130 x 100 cm€ 6,600.00
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Engagement, 2023Acrylic on paper70 x 50 cm€ 2,400.00
Framed under museum anti-UV glass size 80 x 60 cm -
Entanglemoment , 2023Acrylic on paper70 x 50 cm€ 2,400.00
Framed under museum anti-UV glass size 80 x 60 cm -
Magnetisma, 2023Acrylic on paper70 x 50 cm€ 2,400.00
Framed under museum anti-UV glass size 80 x 60 cm -
Dicey, 2023Mixed media on wooden panel
(Found paper, acrylic polymer, ballpoint pen on a cradled birch panel;
sealed in archival matte varnish.; finished in satin varnish)40 x 40 cm€ 1,900.00
42 x 42 cm framed -
Hun beto, 2023Mixed media on wooden panel
(Found paper, acrylic polymer, ballpoint pen on a cradled birch panel;
sealed in archival matte varnish.; finished in satin varnish)40 x 40 cm€ 1,900.00
42 x 42 cm framed -
Azo Obliquely, 2022Acrylic on canvas102 x 102 x 3.5 cm€ 5,000.00
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Cadilastic, 2021Acrylic on canvas80 x 80 cm€ 3,800.00
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Unravelment, 2021Acrylic on canvas77 x 58 cm€ 2,900.00
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Purr Plex, 2020Acrylic on canvas80 x 80 x 3.5 cm€ 3,800.00
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An Elegant Amount, 2019Mixed media on wood (collage, acrylic, rollpen, screenprint...)46 x 36 x 4.5 cm€ 1,600.00
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Power Mount Memory, 2017Mixed media on wood123.5 x 83 x 4 cm€ 8,500.00
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Bedste Les, 2023Mixed media on wooden panel
(Found paper, acrylic polymer, ballpoint pen on a cradled birch panel;
sealed in archival matte varnish.; finished in satin varnish)40 x 40 cmSold
42 x 42 cm framed -
Valo giver go, 2023Mixed media on wooden panel
(Found paper, acrylic polymer, ballpoint pen on a cradled birch panel;
sealed in archival matte varnish.; finished in satin varnish)40 x 40 cmSold
42 x 42 cm framed
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Augustine Kofie
Undercurrents 15 Jun - 1 Jul 2023We are delighted to announce the return to Paris of the Californian artist Augustine Kofie for his fitfth solo show with the gallery. This new exhibition is also an anniversary...Read more -
Ensemble
DOZE GREEN, MISS VAN, AUGUSTINE KOFIE, MIST, LEVALET... 6 Jun - 11 Jul 2020In March 2020, the sky fell. France experienced a strict confinement of almost two months during which a clear distinction was made between essential and non-essential trade. At the same...Read more -
Augustine Kofie
Adventures In Tonality 18 Jan - 8 Feb 2020The title of the exhibition refers to a term coined by George Russel, an American modern jazz musician and theorist whose work re-conceptualize the matching between chords and scales, offering...Read more -
Augustine Kofie
Build From Memory 25 Feb - 1 Apr 2017Buiid From Memory, the title chosen for this new Augustine Kofie's exhibition showcasing 2016-17 new series of collage, painting and installation speaks to our human ability to acquire knowledge and...Read more -
Please Don't Touch!
[Group Show] 10 Sep - 8 Oct 2016To celebrate the return from summer holidays and its one-year anniversary in the new loca- tion of Blvd Richard Lenoir, Galerie Chenus Longhi is thinking big with the exhibition of...Read more -
GO!
[Grand Opening!] 24 Oct - 28 Nov 2015On the occasion of its third anniversary, Chenus Longhi Gallery (formerly Openspace Gallery) is moving to a new 240 m2 space with 4 exhibition rooms spread over three levels. The...Read more -
Augustine Kofie
Taking Shape 27 Nov - 13 Dec 2014Following the off-site exhibition of French artist Éric Lacan, Chenus Longhi Gallery is curating Augustine Kofie's second exhibition in France. Once again, the exhibition takes place in the majestic architecturally-monumental,...Read more -
Augustine Kofie
Carlifornia Soul 25 May - 6 Jun 2013'California Sun' is the very first solo exhibition of the American artist Augustine Kofie in France and is part of the Graffuturism exhibition series initiated by the Chenus Longhi gallery....Read more
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District 13 Art Fair 2022
Solo show Eric Lacan / solo show Mist 15 - 18 Sep 2022We are delighted to invite you to our first participation to District 13 artfair in the famous Drouot auction hall in Paris. We present a...Read more -
Urban Art Fair 2021
Rouge Hartley solo show + Group show 10 - 13 Jun 2021After a year-long absence due to covid, Urban Art Fair returns in 2021. Chenus Longhi Gallery, excited to show the work that artists have made...Read more -
Urban Art Fair 2017
Group Show 20 - 23 Apr 2017For their first participation in the young Parisian fair Urban Art Fair, Galerie Chenus Longhi wanted to show a wide range of their artists. From...Read more