Ato Ribeiro

Ato Ribeiro works in a variety of media: sculpture, installation, drawing and printmaking. Born in Philadelphia in 1989, he spent his childhood and adolescence in Accra, Ghana. The articulation of his West African heritage and his African American identity is central to his art. This is evident in his wooden assemblages that reference both Ghanian strip-woven kente cloth and Black quilting traditions of the American South that were used as a symbolic language in the Underground Railroad, guiding slaves to freedom in the North.

In regards to Three Pillars, Ribeiro states the work to be a “reflect[ion] on the importance of learning and making oneself better by focusing on my direct relationship with two specific educational institutions: Ashesi University in Ghana and Morehouse College in Georgia.” Paying homage to the institution that his mother was first dean of students, he compares the prominence of Ashesi University in the Africa continent, with Morehouse, where Ribeiro and his brothers went to college in the States. Symbolism is also a converging factor between the two. Ashesi’s logo, which is depicted in this artwork, looks similar to Morehouse’s ‘House’ [emblem] and also represents Ashesi’s Three Pillars, which are Scholarship, Leadership, and Citizenship. Morehouse is known for its Five Pillars which are being Well Read, Well Spoken, Well Travelled, Well Dressed and Well Balanced.