Larry Otoo was born in Ghana in 1958. As a child, he made charcoal drawings on the walls of his family home, for which he was duly punished by his grandfather. He attended the Art College of the university in Kumasi, against the wishes of his father who wanted him to become an economist. Larry Otoo can understand his father's apprehensiveness; after all, it was difficult for artists in the seventies, not to mention the fact that the position of artist carried little prestige in those days. The moment when Larry Otoo, then still a student, sold his first painting to the only gallery in the capitol, was one of triumph for him. He left the university after achieving his Masters Degree in African Art. According to Larry, it was important during that period to push the academic rules aside to a certain extent in order to be able to develop his own style. In his studio in a peaceful green suburb of Accra, he paints colourful works in a realistic, expressionist or abstract style. These days he is one of the most successful artists in Ghana, with exhibitions in Europe, Canada and the United States. Larry Otoo is married and has three sons.
Larry does not consider himself a political, but rather a social commentator. He gathers inspiration from the lives of ordinary Ghanaians. " The positive things that I see around me is what influences my work. In terms of everyday life, music, the market, the seamstress place. Now I am more into contemporary things, like fashion shows. I occasionally go into sports, like billiards, football or golf. I paint what is around me". Larry Otoo hopes to be able to pass on a piece of history to future generations by capturing what is going on in his surroundings. He believes it possible that the market women with straw hats could at some time disappear from the scene. As a child, Larry was exposed to jazz music via his father who had worked for a long time in the United States. Today it also forms a great source of inspiration for him. The music is almost tangible in the abstract rhythm with which Otoo paints the musicians.
Otoo has also developed an abstract style, under the influence of the many foreign travels that he has undertaken. Because art education in Ghana is based on British realist art education, abstract paintings were considered not done for quite a long time. The Ghanaian public still has some difficulty with this style, and much to the irritation of Larry Otoo often asks what it is supposed to be. "When you finish an abstract work, people will ask you "what is this" and you have to explain and sometimes I do not want to explain. If you ask the artist or the poet how he did his work, it is a way of trying to say that what he is doing is worthless. I believe with time, there will be a shift from realistic painting to more abstract painting. Abstract is a form that permeates every society. It is universal".
Although Larry Otoo gets his inspiration from Ghanaian life, he considers himself an international artist. "I believe one should not narrow himself by being an African painter, but to paint work that appeals to every society". Considering his success both at home and abroad, it would seem that Larry Otoo has managed to do just that.
Work by Larry Otoo from the SBK exhibition
Assafo sales site with work by Larry Otoo


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June 2002

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