Desmond Tjonakoy is of Ghanaian descent. He has been with Outsider Art Ateliers and Extraordinary Amsterdam since 2011. He likes to work with pencil and fineliner on themes related to Black rap culture on the one hand and religiously or culturally inspired on the other. For instance, he draws portraits of Black icons like fashion model Naomi Cambell and West Coast rapper MC Eiht, and works on his own mythology around the characters ‘Carla’, and ‘the Black Lion’, where the latter takes on monsters and demons to settle the battle between good and evil. Lately, his work has increasingly dealt with the history and struggles of Black people.



Desmond has participated in several art projects: an international Erasmus project in 2016/17 with workshops and presentations in Cork (Irl) and Brighton (UK). In 2020/21, he designed ism streetwear label Patta a t-shirt for their collection tbv the ‘Outsiderwear’ project.

2024 Haus der Kunst Munich – Euward9 Award winnaar 3e prijs

2024 No Limits Art Castle Amsterdam – Welcome to the castle; The Best Of No Limits! Art Castle

2024 Outsider Art Galerie – Express Your Freedom

2023 The Grand Palace of Everyone – No Limits Art Castle bij Nest Den Haag

2022 Special Arts Amersfoort | 150 jaar Mondriaan

2021 – 2022 Outsider Art Museum | For the love of art

2021 Koppelkerk Bredevoort

2021 Outsiderwear Festival, Patta Store

2020 Outsider Art Galerie | Het Gewone is Bijzonder

2019 Erasmus Gallery Rotterdam

2018 – 2019 Outsider Art Gallery | Raw Beauties,

2017 – 2018 Outsider Art Museum | Nieuwe Meesters

2017 Outsider Art Galerie | Black & White European Outsider Art

2017 Wuhan Disabled Persons’ Art Center, China

2016 Onca Gallery Brighton (UK)