Talle Bamazi facts for kids

Talle Bamazi is a talented artist who was born in Togo, a country in West Africa. He is a painter, a curator (someone who organizes art shows), and a gallery owner. Today, he lives and works in Columbus, Ohio, in the United States.

Early Life and Art Training

Talle Bamazi grew up in northern Togo, West Africa. He belongs to the Kabye people, an ethnic group there. He started learning art at a young age, working as an apprentice (a student learning from a master) for his uncle, who was a traditional Togolese artist. Even though he studied architecture for a while in Lomé, the capital city of Togo, he soon went back to his passion: painting. He created his own special art style that mixes traditional African art with modern art.

Later, Talle Bamazi moved to the United States. He continued his art studies at the Art Students League of New York and earned a special art degree from the New York Academy of Art. As of July 2025, he is the main artist at the King Arts Complex in Columbus. A large collection of his life-sized portraits of Black artists from the Columbus area, which were once shown at the Columbus Museum of Art, are now displayed in the historic Pythian theater.

KIACA Gallery

From 2004 to 2011, Talle Bamazi ran his own art gallery called KIACA. This name stands for Kabiye Impact Contemporary African Art. His gallery was special because it was the only Black-owned gallery in the Short North, a well-known arts area in Columbus. It was also one of the few Black-owned galleries in the entire city. KIACA was very important for many African and African-American artists in Columbus, helping them show their work and grow their careers. One artist who got a start there was April Sunami, known for her unique "psycheñwelic" paintings.

Art Shows and Exhibitions

Talle Bamazi's artwork has been shown in many important places. The Columbus Museum of Art featured his art in a solo show in 2008. He also had another solo show there in 2020 called "The Flying Calabash Man." His art has also been displayed at the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center in Wilberforce, Ohio.

Other places where he has had solo exhibitions include the Columbus City Hall, and galleries in New York City like Welancora, Karma, and Brecht Forum. His work was also shown at the Goethe Institut in Lomé, Togo.

His art has been part of group shows at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, the African American Museum in Hempstead, NY, and the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts in Brooklyn, NY.

Awards and Recognition

In 2014, Talle Bamazi was honored at the 27th Annual King Arts Center Gala. He was recognized alongside Aminah Robinson, a famous artist who received a "Genius" grant from the MacArthur Fellows Program.

Media Appearances

Talle Bamazi has often appeared on "Good News," a TV show on Time Warner Cable Channel 23. When he was younger and living in Lomé, he even hosted his own television show about art. His artwork and story have been featured in several magazines, including Art in America, Monarch Magazine, C-BUS Magazine, Valentine New York Art Magazine, and Diva Magazine.