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Joseph AMÉDOKPO, 1946

Joseph Amédokpo was born in Vogan, Togo (West Africa) in 1946, and moved to Lagos, Nigeria at the age of eight where he received his education and art training. Amédokpo received a scholarship from the Yaba Trade Center where he studied fine art from 1966-1968. After returning to Vogan in the early eighties to care for his family (he was the eldest brother), he supported himself and his family through his painting.


Vogan, Togo is located about 15 miles north of the Atlantic Ocean and about the same distance from Benin, Togo's neighbor to the east. A sleepy rural town that comes alive on Fridays with the largest traditional market in Togo, Vogan is centered in the Gold Coast/Slave Coast swath that stretches from Ghana into Nigeria. An area rich in history that shares the common cultural heritage of ancestor worship and the spiritist based religion of Vodun. The still vibrant practice of Vodun and the many ancient folk tales and legends of the Yoruba, Fon, and Ewe cultures form the inspiration for much of Joseph Amédokpo's work.


From his time growing up in Lagos Amédokpo paints the "Okuku Shrine" and the Yoruba tale of "The Hunter and the Monkey" among others. Themes such as Ancestor worship and Vodun ceremonies and rituals are also very present in his canvases.

source: "Modern Art from Africa", C. Clyde

Joseph Amédokpo at his studio