‘VHS Dreams’ Explores the Art of Ghana’s Mobile Cinema
Now on view at BEYOND THE STREETS in Los Angeles through August 23.
Summary
- VHS Dreams explores the art of Ghana’s hand-painted movie posters through the work of 10 painters
- Now on view at BEYOND THE STREETS, the exhibition presents one of the largest collections of its kind
In the 1980s, Ghanaian mobile cinema operators brought the magic of movies to rural villages with little more than a TV, VCR and gas generator. Without access to ample printing infrastructure, they turned to local artists to create hand-painted posters. More than promotional materials, what emerged was a figurative form in a lane of its own; a visual culture defined by exaggerated muscles, blood-splattered drama and imagined monsters.
Now, BEYOND THE STREETS in Los Angeles is shining a light on this inventive art form with VHS Dreams: The Art of Ghana’s Mobile Cinema. Curated by Accra and Chicago-based Deadly Prey Gallery, the show brings forth an impressive showcase of original, hand-painted Ghanaian movie posters – one of the largest of its kind.
The exhibition presents work by 10 painters from Accra and beyond, bound by their affinity for the poster genre. Often painted on repurposed flour sacks, each one-of-one work stands as bold reinterpretations of global cinema, evoking Ghana’s visual traditions — of sign painting, agitprop art and street aesthetics — fused with elements of fan art, Western advertising and guerrilla-style marketing.
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“In a contemporary moment where digital reproduction dominates, VHS Dreams reasserts the tactile, material presence of paint, canvas, and gesture,” the gallery wrote. “It is a celebration of artistic invention born from necessity, of global cinema refracted through local eyes, and of an enduring, defiant visual language that refuses to fade into history.”
VHS Dreams is on view at BEYOND THE STREETS through August 23. Original works and prints are available for purchase via the gallery’s website.
BEYOND THE STREETS
434 N La Brea Ave.,
Los Angeles, CA 90036
