Artists

Ablade Glover is a Ghanaian painter and educator born in Accra in 1934. He trained at the Kumasi College of Technology between 1957 and 1958 before receiving a scholarship to the Central School of Art and Design in London, UK, where he studied textile design from 1959 to 1962. Glover went on to receive a degree in Art Education from Newcastle University in 1965. He then moved to the USA, where he earned a master’s degree in 1972 from Kent State University in Ohio and a doctorate from The Ohio State University in 1974. After completing his studies, Glover returned to Ghana and taught at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi for the next two decades, becoming the Head of the Department and the College Dean before retiring in 1994. The year prior, he had established the Artist Alliance Gallery, which would become a major player in Ghana’s contemporary art scene.

Throughout his academic pursuits, Glover was also a painter. His work reveals his vibrant passion for life, activity, and colour. Using warm impastoed pigments to express the sun and heat of his country, Glover depicts animated scenes that mirror the exuberant diversity of Africa: its bustling market stalls, brightly attired crowds, and the dynamic energy that is Ghana. His work can be found in collections such as the Imperial Palace Collection, Tokyo, Japan; UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France; and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, USA. He has exhibited extensively in West Africa, Europe, the USA, and Japan.