Augustine Kofie

“Augustine Kofie, master of shapes and forms, plays with forgotten colors, flirts with the architecture of an idea, follows his pure instinct of balance. He certainly is a big name in our contemporary art landscape. His outstanding research in the construction of lines and geometrical power fields, lets us walk on a floorless space, teaches us to go back to our self primary construct of dreamt castles and unknown city shapes. Kofie argues with corners and circles, with sunwashed colors and the gap beetween now and yesterday. A post futuristic vision of a non existing urbanism where harmony should take over concrete squareness ….-
The work of Kofie is the approach to a parallel universe, far from materialistic shortsightedness and naive spiritualism. In Kofie ´s vision all forms are subsidiary through space and time, and are cohabiting with their own character and will. This should be the goal of our society.”

-Jaybo Monk/ Berlin based Artist
I Wish U Sun/ October 2010


”I think Kofie’s work is extremely unique in the context of Urban Contemporary or Street Art as you don’t see anyone else of his standing in the community doing art like him. It’s very original in that setting and thus definitely sets him apart from his peers. I think his work shows people you can be a street artist in a completely new and fresh way. I actually think Kofie is a Modernist/Futurist painter first and street artist second… it’s all fine art but he shows you a way of doing it differently and really breaking rules and standards of what a street artist is. His work is extremely mature and well thought out and that inspires me.”

-Justin Giarla Curator/Owner White Walls Gallery, San Francisco
The Huffington Post/ October 2010


“You can see the influence of Graffiti, tagging, architectural drafting, and more mainstream techniques in Augustine Kofie’s artwork. His is an example of amalgamation — of someone inspired by different visual forms who has carved out a distinct reputation at both the street level (he lives in Los Angeles) and the institutional one. His work has been exhibited in galleries around the country, and increasingly in Europe. Kofie likes to scrounge through estate sales for random objects he can use. That makes him both an archivist and (to use a label he’s been tagged with) a “Futurist.”

-SF Weekly/ October 2010


“A reoccurring theme in Kofie’s artwork is this interest in looking back in time for inspiration. This motif manifests itself in several ways for this body of work. First, you can see the inspiration several art historical styles have had on him, particularly as the title of the show suggests, Futurism and more specifically Futurist Architecture. Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century. It was characterized by an enthusiastic obsession with technology, particularly with its potential to be powerful, fast and dangerous. Though Kofie’s artwork does not address the same technology driven themes as the Futurists, he does work in a similar visual vocabulary which uses dynamic lines and shapes.”

– Maggie Pike for Warholian.com




Curriculum Vitae
Augustine Kofie/ Kofie’One [Juxtapox October 2010, #117]
b. November 1973
Primarily self taught
Lives and works in Los Angeles.

When you first view Augustine Kofie’s artwork you immediately are struck with the skill and intensity of his technique. You can understand his love of process and structure. With strong interest in architecture, form and shape, Hard-edge painting, 1960’s iconography, op art, contemporary music and street culture, Augustine constructs a dialogue in his work that is not always easily revealed. His collages and assemblages are layers upon layers of development. His work is as much unintentional mastery as it is intentional order. The imagery not only leaps out at you, but also draws you into his conversation.

Growing up in Los Angeles and very active in the West Los Angeles Graffiti scene since the mid 1990’s, Kofie’One, as he became to be known, is a skillful and well respected street artist. After viewing one of his collage and assemblages you may begin to recognize his distinct style in one of his many murals scattered around Los Angeles. Drawing on his craft of lettering he has developed an abstraction that goes beyond the traditional 3 dimensions of our known world into a crafted world that builds on itself. Choices like his color pallet recall a vintage sensibility. He has the innate ability to combine appreciation of the past and his vision of a developed future.

Kofie’s mechanically detailed line-work, organically complex structures and heavy earth-tone palette develop into a multi-layered, architecturally inspired world that is a vintage futuristic realm not subject to gravity. To study one of Kofie’s artworks is to envelope yourself in his consciousness and get a glance into his awareness.

facebook.com/pages/Kofie/186623808046043
Vimeo.com/user1867056
Flickr.com/photos/keepdrafting