The selfie 2020

Cornelius Annor’s painting, The Selfie, pictures a family taking a group photo. Through this simple everyday moment, Annor questions art historical and contemporary themes of representation and cultural identity. The work was produced in Ghana, and we can see the way that the cultural concept of family, deeply rooted in Ghanaian society, is being reshaped through contemporary technologies. Social media has changed how communities share experiences, and the family selfie becomes a marker of the intersection between local values and globalization. Annor, in turn, takes this popular form and translates it into a contemporary painting. Understanding such a painting involves social and cultural research into Ghanaian society and contemporary art. The meaning of the work is something that is produced in these networks of social and institutional exchange.