Currently on view at Harman Projects in San Francisco, California and in conjunction with Spoke Art and Deadly Prey Gallery, is “Deadly Prey,” an exhibition of hand-painted movie posters from Ghana.

The origin of this artistic movement has its roots in the 1980s with the rise of mobile cinemas across the country of Ghana. Promotional posters were created to support these traveling VHS screenings, and were painted on recycled flour sacks by local artists who freely reimagined films through bold colors, exaggerated action, and inventive (and sometimes made-up) visual storytelling.

Unbound by studio marketing guidelines, these works often departed radically from their source material, transforming global action, horror, and martial arts films into distinctly Ghanaian visions that blended fantasy, spectacle, and local cultural sensibilities.

Over time, these posters gained international recognition for their raw energy, graphic ingenuity, and status as both functional advertising and autonomous artworks. Artists such as Heavy J, Joe Mensah, and Stoger helped define the genre’s visual language.

This exhibition highlights how contemporary Ghanaian artists are continuing and expanding this legacy, engaging the hand-painted poster tradition as both homage and reinvention.