Entry no. 4: Conversation with Luther Konadu.
*ASIHCE IN WINNIPEG is a curation of conversations with artistic people in Winnipeg. As you read this conversation my intention is for you to get to know the artist from their own words.*
“Since coming to this city I made it my life's work to find and share the stories of the artists I would encounter. I will now hold myself accountable by stating that I have not indeed been doing a good job, and I apologize mainly to myself.”
“I first met Luther Konadu at a shoot he was doing in preparation for an exhibition he had in 2023, and at the time I did not know who he was.”
“Fast forward to the summer of 2024 (exactly one year ago) we sat down for a conversation, now as a dear friend, at his not-for-profit gallery about his journey so far as an artist living in Winnipeg.” This is everything we talked about.
Francisca Ehileme: What's your name? What do you do as an artist? And what do you think makes you an interesting artist?
Luther Konadu: I am Luther Konadu, and I'm a visual artist, I also run a gallery, and I run a publication, I do photography for my art, but my photography kind of engages with some sculptural elements as well. I photograph friends from the African diaspora in Winnipeg, and I've been doing that for the last nine years. I have been fortunate enough to exhibit my work across Canada and a little bit in the States and in Europe as well.
FE: How has being in Winnipeg affected your endeavours as an artist? Has it helped? Have you grown a lot or just a little?
LK: Well, I've been living here for almost ten years. My practice began here, and the people who are in the work, it's about my encounter with them. So Winnipeg is essential to my work, and my work has been able to help me form the community that I have now. So yeah, Winnipeg has been pivotal to my work. It kind of also matches my pace as a person. It's not too big of a city, and it's not too small. There is stuff that happens that keeps me engaged and stimulated. It's relatively affordable, although that's changing, so it's manageable for the time being for an artist like myself to be able to live and work here.
FE: Seeing that you started as an artist here in Winnipeg, what is your story?
LK: I went to the art school here [School of Art at the University of Manitoba], back in 2015 and, that's where it all began. We have access to camera equipments as students, so I wanted to kind of take advantage of that access as a student, but I had already been interested in photography before or interested in artists who work with photography for a while. However, I never really imagined myself as an artist working with photography. I was doing painting and drawing before that, and I did that for the majority of my time through university, but I started doing my own photography because I had access to the equipment, so it became an opportunity for me to try things out, and to see what might work and what might not. That's kind of when and where I started, and it's been a lot of trial and error, plus figuring out what I can get from this tool [the camera], because it's all self-taught for me. No one sat me down to figure out things for me, I had to either ask peers or look stuff up on my own. So it's been a very gradual process, and a lot of learning. I’m not super in love with my early work, but it's kind of gotten me where I am.
FE: Why aren't you in love with it?
LK: Because it was like early stage, and I didn't really know how to use my tools. I was still figuring out what I wanted to photograph. I mean, I still have difficulty with the equipment, and I haven't figured out everything but, I think that's also part of the work now, it's this process of figuring out what this thing can do, and how I can use it to my own advantage. So it's an ever-evolving process and I think when you're starting out commonly, you don't always make your best work at the early stages but, that's okay, it's kind of a stepping stone to the next point in your practice.
FE: You said you run a publication, what's that? I've never heard of it. What is it about?
LK: It's called thisispublicparking.com. It also started when I was in art school and, it has been like eight years now since I've been doing it. It has been featuring artists, and various art workers and cultural workers through interviews, essays, and there’s kind of experimental approaches to art writing. It's been really rewarding to work with various editors and writers.
FE: Next thing. Ola [mutual friend] once sent me an interview or was it an article that had pictures you took of an artist, yeah musician, that toured. Have you done anything else like that since that one?
LK: Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get the opportunity to do that, but that's something that I want to do more. If the opportunity and the situation is right, it would be lovely to work with other artists and photograph them, especially artists that I really respect and enjoy their work. That experience was such a blessing because it was for a big publication, The New Yorker. It was a really great opportunity and I'm really very, very thankful for it because it also came out of the blue. I feel like if it's in the cards and it's meant to be, then I'm open to it.
FE: How did it come about? Were you still in school when you did it?
LK: Yeah, I was still in school. I was basically done with school, but it was at the end of my school year. They [The New Yorker] reached out to me through email and were like, "Hey, I'm an editor from The New Yorker."
I was like, “What?”
Then they said, “We would like you to photograph this artist, Helado Negro…” They flew me to Vancouver and I had a day to shoot him and, it was a really great experience and I felt really fortunate. I am waiting for the next opportunity, it would be nice to photograph people like Solange or Frank Ocean or Alfie Enoch.
FE: Speaking of musicians now, who do you listen to? I'm always trying to guess your taste in music based on what you post on the C’cap [Centre for Cultural and Artistic Practices] instagram page.
LK: Okay, you listen to those stories? What was the most surprising? I didn't think people actually paid attention to it. I'm glad you do.
FE: I listen to the music. I don't know. I feel like you have a lot of genres that you listen to. I feel like you also post it based on the work that you're posting about.
LK: Yeah, thanks for noticing.
FE: So, what do you listen to in general, I don’t want to make any guesses, [laughs]
LK: Basically, [the music I post] they are not really the music that I listen to but, they are music that I listen to when I think about the work and then I relate it to the music. So, the last post I posted, the title of the song is called "I Am The Earth". It kind of has thematics of the show that's currently on, the song is by an artist called Lower Dens and, I’ve been listening to them for a very long time. I kind of thought about... what would be a good fit. The last one before that is SZA, "Saturn”. So, there's some lyrics that are loosely related to it, she was talking about the planet and talking about going to a different planet because this earth is kind of messed up. So, again, it's kind of related to some thematics.
FE: Yeah, but still, these are pieces of yourself in works that are not yours. Because you are the curator we get to get a glimpse of you. I mean, I do because I pay attention.
LK: Yeah, well, I'm glad you do. Sometimes you do all this work and you don't know if anyone is actually paying attention. For example, the guy that actually came in [to the gallery], that was the first time we met. He told me that he'd been following my work. He said, not necessarily nice but it's very thoughtful what he said. It’s not like he was just a passive viewer of my work, but he was telling me how there's an artwork that he's seen by me and he can’t remember it, but remembers what feelings or impression the artwork had on him, not necessarily the artwork itself. So that's a very powerful thing. Like, "Wow, that means a lot that the feeling or what the artwork left with you is more strong than the artwork itself." Like I was telling him, sometimes it's really difficult to know where you're going with your work or who is seeing your work or if there's any purpose in what you're doing. So, it's really nice when a stranger like that comes and sees all these things. It gives me more courage to go back and do what I do. It makes it more worth it.
FE: You said you went to art school, right? Where are your paintings?
LK: You know what? I threw them out.
FE: Wow. You threw them out.
LK: I threw them out because at one point I just had so many that I didn't have the space to store them. I also didn't feel good about them, but there's one on my Instagram. I'll let you find it. But that was from a long time ago. Also, Ola has seen my paintings before. That was my thesis show [BFA show] that I did. Literally all that work does not exist. I do have one painting at home and my friend Iman also has one painting as well. But yeah, I feel like I want to get back into it [painting] now that I have a bit more time. Just for myself, or I can paint for other people.
FE: And get commission work?
LK: It doesn't even have to be commercial. I find it really satisfying when I'm making an artwork for someone and then they actually put it on their wall. I feel like it's a bigger compliment more than any money involved. There's this interview with Serena Williams where she talked about how she got paid for a tournament and she forgot about the money until like tax season and her accountant reminded her, "Oh, you have money waiting for you,” and she was like its not that she didn't care about the money, but she said the money wasn't a priority. It was about winning and playing her best games.
I relate to that so much because I feel like I put a lot of my energy into what I do, I enjoy doing it so much that the money is not as important. What is important is how people interact with it. So, if I make something that someone enjoys so much that they put it on their wall and they keep it for years and years, that's a big enough compliment.
FE: Now we're going to lean towards shows that you have done. As an artist, visual artist. Your photography stuff, how many have you done?
LK: How many exhibitions? I can't count. You know what? I've been really, really fortunate to get at least one exhibition since 2018 or 2017. So one exhibition every year. Except for 2020, when I got two shows cancelled because of COVID.
FE: When was your first exhibition?
LK: My first professional exhibition as a photo artist was in 2017.
FE: What was it about?
LK: So my work is always the same but, I just keep adding more because I get to know new people. My work is building this long-term archive and, I want to continue doing it 20 years down the line. Building as much and, photographing as many people as possible. If they will allow me to. So it's all the same and, I kind of continuously grow in it over time.
FE: With the people you photograph, is it just anybody you photograph?
LK: No.
FE: Okay. What makes you want to photograph them?
LK: So they're all friends or people who I have mutual relationships with. I can't remember how we met.
FE: It was 2022 through Ola at Plug In.
LK: Yeah, yeah. I totally forgot about that. I really appreciate that you showed up even though you didn't really know me well. But yeah, that's how I get to know people. It's through mutual friends, and people making suggestions.
FE: Okay, what's your age limit?
LK: I don't have an age limit, but just people around my age or younger.
FE: Have you ever regretted photographing someone?
LK: Have I regretted? I guess not in that moment. So, when I'm photographing people, I feel like it's a really great opportunity and, I feel really lucky to be able to photograph them. It's also just unfortunate if the artist or the person I photograph isn't happy with it, then it's just like disappointing. But that's totally fine. I'm glad they're able to tell me. Or, if we stop talking or whatever that's also disappointing. But I wouldn't say it's regret. It's just that feeling of wishing things were different than they were.
FE: That's a good answer.
LK: No, I don't really regret any of it. Because, again, the moment of photographing is a really great coming together. But I think that's how friendships are. Not all friendships are meant to last and, sometimes it's hard to reckon with that truth. Sometimes you want to hold on to it for as long as possible but, people grow apart and, that's something that I've been learning about this whole project. Even though we’re all friends and mutual friends, we cannot stay in touch forever for various reasons.
FE: Now in this phase of your life... I feel like you've had a very fulfilled 20s, I know you're in your 30s now. What's your ambition now? Are you slowing things down or still keeping the same pace? Wait, actually let's talk about you as a curator. How did you get into curating, what made you want to get into that?
LK: Again, before I felt like I started to explore art as a profession I was always looking at artists and looking at what they were doing and why they were doing it. I was curious about what motivated their ideas and what motivated them to actually do art, especially art being what I think to be a marginalized occupation, or an occupation that you have to have high self-conviction in order to take it full on. Anyway, I was really looking at, well, why are they doing this? If it is socially marginalized and difficult to take on, what is motivating them? I was kind of slowly, subconsciously looking at artists without really having a plan for it. It was just out of curiosity.
But in the back of my mind, I was also thinking about what professional art careers could look like through other artists who have been established. I was looking at, well, if they have this trajectory, perhaps I can also see that as a possibility to get into it.
Again, in the back of my mind, I was accumulating artists over the years without any intention of being a curator, and when the opportunity did come, I already had all these archive of artists on my mind, and whose work I have a strong interest in.
So, when the option came about I was able to refer to that knowledge and use it to present work.
FE: What was the first opportunity you had?
LK: The first opportunity. I think the first professional opportunity was through Plugin.
Yeah, through Plugin. It wasn't like a smooth opportunity, which is why there was a pause in my answer, because the opportunity was given to me, but it did not unfold as I had expected. I would say this was in 2021. This same year was also the year that I began working on C’cap [the gallery] and had my first exhibition.
So in that instance, I had control of what I was doing, and I was able to bring the artist here and produce the artist’s work in town and get it framed and everything. It was the first time the artist was in Canada, it had such a great turnout, a lot of people appreciated the exhibition, and it had great reviews.
So yeah, that was a really great moment for bolstering my confidence to continue. This was like, what, three years ago.
FE: That's fairly recent.
LK: Totally. Again, that's something I want to keep on doing for the foreseeable future. It's just that currently money is difficult.
Money to get to do more interesting and ambitious things is difficult, and I'm trying to figure out how to form sustainable partnerships with organizations that could share some of their wealth. Or individuals who have the heart of supporting the arts could share some of their resources with us so that I can continue to do more ambitious work. Like I want to work with sound artists and musicians, and I'm really interested in the conversation between sound and visual art.
So that's kind of the future that I want to head towards. I want to get as much money as possible, I want to get a second space and have an artist residency where people from out of town and locally can be in residence and work on projects.
I also want to kind of work on a Winnipeg triennial or Winnipeg biennial, whichever depending on funding. But it's basically a big exhibition. Do you know the Venice biennial?
FE: No, I do not. What is it ?
LK: So it's basically an art event that would happen every two years, but focusing on only Winnipeg artists and, slowly I want to kind of open up to the prairies. Because I feel like just from traveling, when you travel and people ask you, “oh you live in Winnipeg. Is there an art scene there? Are there artists working there?” Because people don't know what's happening here I'm wanting this to be an opportunity to kind of showcase what the prairies are made of, and the different practices and different kinds of demographics that make up the art scene here, and the kinds of critical insights that people are engaging with as artists working in this region.
FE: Big things, big things.
LK: So that's another thing where I want a lot of money for. I want like at least $200,000 to be able to make this and I know I'm going to get it. It's me manifesting. So for that project I want to work with other organizations, like art organizations. To have like a multi-site exhibition and to have a publication that comes out of it.
FE: What are your ambitions for yourself as a visual artist?
LK: So, in the very immediate future, I have an exhibition in Toronto which I'm working on, and I want it to be the best work that I've done. Because Toronto has like very... It's a very big scene, but also people are very highly critical and have like very thorny eyes. So I want to come out and show out.
FE: Wait, do you ever sell like...I mean, has anyone ever requested to buy your photographs during your exhibitions?
LK: I've had like institutions buy it. Museums, I’ve been fortunate enough to have like two museums buy my work. Otherwise, I have so much work in storage. You can come take some.
FE: Oh, I will take you up on that for sure.
LK: Yeah. I have so much at home and then I have it in storage.
Like I live in a two bedroom, and the second bedroom is filled with my work.
FE: So which institutions have bought your photographs?
LK: The Remai [Remai Modern] which is in Saskatoon, you can look them up if you're interested, and then the Image Centre in Toronto.
FE: I’ve heard of that one. I think. Because unfortunately I'm a science student.
LK: I mean, you can still. Like, again, I have a background in business administration. While I was doing that program, I was looking up art, and I was also taking art lectures. Partly because I didn't know what the professional world of art was like until I started going to school and started discovering these things.
FE: I don't have any more questions for you.
LK: Was there anything that you discovered that you didn't know before?
FE: Yes, a lot.
LK: Okay, that's good. Thanks for finding interest in my work enough to want to talk to me.
FE: Yeah.
This conversation was lightly edited for ease of reading.