Aboudia was selected to be featured in the Africa Present: INVEST section

Born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast in 1983, Aboudia Abdoulaye Diarrassouba is one of the most prominent artists in the Contemporary African art scene. Better known as Aboudia, he draws inspiration from African carvings and graffiti to create large-scale, boldly colored, mixed-media works that are reflective of the current tensions in his country and the energy that is characteristic of African culture. In the present lot, ghostly figures, common in Aboudia’s work, fill up the composition. With crude, child-like faces and overlapping of rich color, the work is representative of ongoing troubling events in Abidjan, especially regarding underprivileged children in tough neighborhoods.

In 2011, the Ivory Coast suffered a civil war and contemporary artist Aboudia was present in the capital, experiencing the bloodshed and violence that drove the country to chaos. The turmoil became a source of inspiration and he began recording what he saw in the streets, creating works that depict the brutality of the war through skull-like figures and expressive brush strokes. “But even before the crisis I worked on similar themes, childhood in the streets, poorness, child soldiers. I’m an ambassador of the children - they do writings on the walls, their wishes, their fears, I’m doing the same on my canvas. I’m like a megaphone for these children” (Aboudia quoted in an interview with Natasha Hoare, Dazed, online, July 11, 2011).

Aboudia has held solo exhibitions around the world at galleries including Jack Bell Gallery in London, Ethan Cohen Gallery in New York, Galerie Cecile Fakhoury in Abidjan, and Out of Africa Gallery in Barcelona. His works are in the collections of the Saatchi Gallery, Jean Pigozzi collection, Simon de Pury collection, and Palais de la Culture in Abidjan, among others.

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