During the 1980s and 1990s, Ghanaian artists created vibrant hand-painted movie posters to promote Hollywood blockbuster films. These posters served as promotional material for mobile cinemas that flourished in Ghana between the 1980s and 2000.
These wildly imaginative posters were a testament to a once-thriving industry: the “Ghanaian Mobile Cinema.” This industry emerged in the late 1980s when Ghanaian entrepreneurs established video clubs. Equipped with televisions, VCRs, VHS tapes, and portable generators, these entrepreneurs traveled throughout Ghana, setting up makeshift screening areas in villages with limited or no electricity. These video clubs also operated more permanent theaters in major cities like Accra, Cape Coast, and Kumasi.
The unique aspect of these posters lies in the fact that the artists were given very little information about the films they were illustrating because often times they did not have access to watch the movie being painted. In addition they had little access to stills or cover art to inform what they made. So they relied primarily on their imaginations, resulting in a fascinating collection of wildly imaginative and often surreal interpretations that are currently on view at the Persons Unknown Gallery in Los Angeles.
Fancy seeing Mrs Doubt Fire’s Robin Williams impaling Pierce Brosnan’s character through the eye with a Broom? Or Michael Jackson appearing as a cameo in E.T. How about Dirty Dancing, but instead of romance, it’s a blood-soaked, demonic possession frenzy? And speaking of horror, picture David Lynch’s Blue Velvet, but with Laura Dern’s Sandy Williams as a bloodthirsty vampire. Finally, reimage Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused but this time, instead of teenage angst, it’s a hyper-stylized, stoner kung fu epic. You’d see those slackers as weapon-toting gangs, throwing mean uppercuts between bong hits.
These are just a few of the thousands of brilliant posters from the Deadly Prey Gallery, a Chicago-based traveling art gallery, that the gallery has in possession of in its archives. The gallery collaborates with a network of over 10 talented artists in and around Accra, Ghana, to preserve this unique art form while empowering the creative community. The collection spans 30 years of history, with all profits from sales directly benefiting the artists.
As the Ghanaian mobile cinema industry boomed, competition intensified. To stand out, operators turned to eye-catching advertising. With limited printing options, hand-painted posters became the go-to solution. Skilled local artists emerged, adding their unique flair to each film, often embellishing scenes with extra violence, horror, or sex to attract viewers.
These posters were typically painted on repurposed flour sacks, lending them a distinctive, rugged look. Despite their relatively young age, many appear much older due to years of wear and tear from constant travel and exposure to the elements. With the rise of affordable printing and home viewing, the mobile cinema industry declined by the mid-2000s.
Today access to printing is far less expensive and home viewing has become more accessible to the general public in Ghana. Many of the same artists from Ghana’s former mobile cinema continue to paint movie posters as art with Deadly Prey Gallery on a commission basis to a growing worldwide audience today.
Deadly Prey founder Brian Chankin began his obsession with movies at age 8 when his parents rented him Armed and Dangerous on VHS. Seventeen years later he’d open Odd Obsession Movies in Chicago, a video rental store specializing in everything weird, obscure, and classic. During this time he started collecting hand-painted Ghanaian movie posters to decorate the walls of the video store, which led him to meet Robert Kofi Ghartey in Accra, Ghana. Robert worked with many of the outstanding movie poster artists in Ghana as a teenager in the 90’s. Over a couple of years, the two men became best friends, and in 2012 Deadly Prey Gallery was born with Brian and Robert as partners. The 10 artists who comprise Deadly Prey are Heavy J, Stoger, Salvation, Farkira, Mr. Nana Agyq, C.A. Wisely, Magasco, Nii Bi Ashitey, Bright Obeng and H.K. Mathias. This also included the artists Leonardo and Mark Anthony, who passed away recently.
The Deadly Prey: handpainted movie posters from Ghana exhibition runs through January 18 at the Persons Unknown Gallery in Los Angeles.
Scroll down to view a selectionon of the posters and the Ghanaian artists behind these creative posters.
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Salvation-Heavy-J-Mr.-Nana-Agyq-myself-Farkira-and-Stoger
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Salvation, Heavy J, Mr. Nana Agyq, Brian Chankin (Founder of Deadly Prey Gallery), Farkira and Stoger
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery 2001: A Space Odyssey, painted by the artist Farkira
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery A Nightmare on Elm Street, by the artist C.A. Wisely
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery C.A. Wisely with his Drive painting.
C.A. Wisely was born in 1990 in an area called Akotobu in Teshie town, Accra. In 2006 at age 16 he saw his first movie poster by the great artist Heavy J, and was so fascinated that in that same year he began an apprenticeship with him! By the next year he had painted his first official movie poster, Superman. Wisely loves action and martial arts movies like Rambo, American Ninja, Shaolin Temple, Terminator and Deadly Prey. When he’s not painting he loves to read the bible and spread the good word of God’s kingdom to all people.
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Akira, by the artist Salvation
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Alien, by the artist C.A. Wisely
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Bright Obeng with his Style Wars painting.
Bright Obeng was born in Teshie, a suburb of Accra, in 1974. After apprenticing 3 years under the legendary artist Affrimartey, by the age of 17 he was already painting some of the most interesting movie posters in Ghana. He loves to paint all types of movies, but especially martial arts. He enjoys watching cartoons, reading the bible, and spending time with his family. “What makes me so excited is when I paint a perfect picture that raises an argument against its reality.”
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery An American Werewolf in London, by the artist Stoger
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Apocalypse Now, by the artist Stoger
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery H.K. Mathias with his Scream Painting.
Harrison Martei Korley (H.K. Matthias) was born in Teshie Accra Ghana, on the 1st February 1980. His passion for drawing began from my childhood until he enrolled as an apprentice to paint movie posters, and got trained professionally from Heavy Jay’s shop from 1996 to 1999. Matthias describes himself as a versatile painter who can paint everything, but when it comes to movie posters, he loves to spend more time on action and horror movies. He mostly uses oil paint for his movie posters and acrylic for his fine arts. His favourite movies to watch are the Adventure and Action movies like Commando, Rambo. The Transporter, Hard Target and Show down in Little Tokyo. When not painting, he love too watch movies and television news or play football to release stress.
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Beetlejuice, by the artist Salvation
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Black Swan, by the artist Heavy J
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Heavy J with his Lady Terminator painting.
Heavy J was born in 1975 in a town called Pokuase in the greater Accra region. He first started painting signs at an early age under the guidance of the artist Ras Portey. The famous Bombay Video Club quickly took notice of his gift and offered him a job, so by age 17 he was already painting movie posters that set him apart as one of the most talented artists in the genre. He paints night and day! But when he’s not painting, Heavy J enjoys reading the bible and playing drums
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Blade Runner, by the artist Stoger
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Blue Velvet, by the artist Stoger
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Kofi at his Gallery in Accra
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Cry Baby, by the artist Heavy J
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Dazed and Confused, by the artist Leonardo
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Leonardo working on Big Trouble in Little China.
Leonardo is a pioneer in the genre of hand-painted movie posters in Ghana. He was born in 1958 in Darkuman, a suburb of Accra. The true definition of a self taught master, by age 12 Leonardo was already painting signs as well as painting for art. The very first movie posters hit Ghana in 1985 and Leonardo was at the center of it, painting for such great video clubs as Ziggy, Bombay, Zaap, Makosa, and more. No working artist in Ghana has made more movie posters or worked longer than this legendary artist. His favorite movies are The Thief of Baghdad, Clash of the Titans, Aladdin, as well as Arnold and Stallone movies. He used to play a lot of soccer, but claims he can’t play these days, so he listens to political programs and music often on the radio. Believe him when he says, “I am most excited when I am behind my canvas painting”.
Leonardo had been with Deadly Prey since the beginning but sadly passed away in September of 2023. The gallery continues to help support his family.
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Death Becomes Her, by the artist Heavy J
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Dirty Dancing, by the artist Salvation
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Dumb and Dumber, by the artist Stoger
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Farkira with his Terminator 2 painting
Farkira was born in Teshie, Accra in 1967. He was taught by the great Gin Arts in his hometown, and by 1989 was working for Mart Video club where his skill was widely seen as very unique! In his 30+ year career of movie poster painting he has tackled every genre with the same force, but he prefers to paint horror and action movies. Some of his favorite include Hercules, Indiana Jones, Commando and Rambo. When he’s not painting (and even when he is) Farkira loves listening to music, especially reggae, soul and highlife. He also enjoys painting portraits, in fact whenever not painting movie posters you can count on him making portraits of hip hop, reggae, R&B, and local Ghanain musicians.
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Dune, by the lawyer Heavy J
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Magasco with his Scarface painting
Samuel Adjetey Adjei, aka Magasco, was born on August 6, 1976. He started painting in 1993, under the guidance of the legendary Ghanaian artist Farkira. By 1996 movie posters were in such demand that he made painting them his specialty! His favorite genre to paint is horror, and many have said his paintings are the most terrifying of all the artists in Ghana… now that’s saying a lot!! His favorite movies are Beastmaster, Indiana Jones, Conan the Destroyer and Hercules. He’s known for his unique style and portraiture, while tagging “Peace Video Club” (the original video club he painting for in the mobile cinema days) on every single movie poster. When he’s not painting, he enjoys play football to keep fit and watching football to relax among family and friends. “I used to be a sad person when the poster business almost collapsed, but currently I am very Comfortable with my work due to the gains I am making that’s changing my life and has saved me from all the stress I use to go through in the past, so this is one thing that excites me so much as a person for having my life back”.
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery E.T., by the artist Heavy J
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Everything Everywhere All at Once, by the artist Salvation
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Mr. Nana Agyq with his Stop Making Sense painting.
Mr. Nana Agyq was born in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana in 1982. He first began painting in 2004 while under a 4 year apprenticeship with the great artist Heavy J. His favorite posters to paint are in the horror genre, but the movies he prefers to watch are all Bollywood like Maa, Rashak and Shooley! Nana loves English premier league soccer when he’s not watching movies or painting movie posters. He takes painting movie posters very seriously and is constantly working on bettering his technique.
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Face Off, by the artist Leonardo
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Forest Gump, by the artist Mr. Nana Agyq
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Nii Bi Ashitey with his Santa Sangre painting.
Nii Bi Ashitey was born in Teshie, Accra in 1982. His father was an artist and he wished to follow in his footsteps, so he began a movie poster apprenticeship with the great Heavy J in 2000 that lasted 4 years. Since then he’s taken a liking to painting horror, action and martial arts movies. Some of his favorite include Iron Monkey, Eastern Condors, Apocalypto and My Father is a Hero. Ashitey is also an experienced musician who works with a group practicing cultural drumming and dancing.
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Get Out, by the artist Salvation
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Grey Gardens, by the artist Stoger
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Groundhog Day, by the artist C.A. Wisely
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Salvation working on his Gleaming the Cube painting.
Salvation was born in Teshie, Accra in 1976. As a teenager he worked for More Time Video Club where they would rent out posters by the master painter Joe Mensah. By 1995 he was apprenticing under Mensah, then just 2 years later he worked under Heavy J, so interestingly he learned from two of the all time greatest! Salvation loves to paint and watch horror movies, both American as well as Ghanaian and Nigerian horror. Some of his favorites are Igodo, Egg of Life, Tumi Bi Sen Tumi Bi, Night of the Demons, Braindead and Blade. He also loves playing cards, playing Oware game and gospel music.
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Home Alone, by the artist Stoger
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Jaws, by the artist Nii Bi Ashitey
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Stoger reading the Deadly Prey book.
Stoger was born in Teshie, Accra in 1972. He learned to paint at his older brother Jasper’s shop, with skill so defined at an early age he was already painting his own movie posters by age 15! He loves to paint horror, action, and Indian movies, with some of his favorite being Maa, Ghost Ship, Eaten Alive, Total Recall, No Retreat No Surrender, and Evil Dead. When not painting he loves to do carpentry and work on interior decor in his home. Stoger is also a gifted dancer! “Being an artist is a great feeling because you always bring an imagination to life.”
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Kids, by the artist Mr. Nana Agyq
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Kill Bill, by the artist Magasco
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Midsommar, by the artist Magasco
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Mommie Dearest, by the artist C.A. Wisely
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Mrs Doubtfire, by the artist Leonardo
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Octopussy, by the artist Farkira
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Pink Flamingos, by the artist Heavy J
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Possession, by the artist Heavy J
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Psycho, by the artist Heavy J
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Pulp Fiction, by the artist Mr. Nana Agyq
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Rosemary’s Baby, by the artist Leonardo
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Showgirls, by the artist C.A. Wisely
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Sister Act, by the artist Heavy J
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Star Wars, by the artist Farkira
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery The Godfather, by the artist C.A. Wisely
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery The Matrix, by the artist Stoger
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery The Royal Tenenbaums, by the artist C.A. Wisely
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery The Shining, by the artist Salvation
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery The Wizard of Oz, by the artist Bright Obeng
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery They Live, by the artist Heavy J
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Twin Peaks, by the artist Salvation
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Uncle Buck, by the artist Leonardo
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Vertigo, by the artist Heavy J
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Wayne’s World, by the artist Mr. Nana Agyp
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Ghanaian Hollywood Movie Posters
Image Credit: Deadly Prey Gallery Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, by the artist Stoger
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