From the streets to the largest exhibition workshops in the world, Aboudia tells his story in his painting

Whether in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, in Queens in New York or in Abidjan in Ivory Coast, graffiti on the walls in the streets remains a means for young people from the working class to express themselves and to let the world know they exist; that they also deserve some attention.

 

Aboudia belonging to this youth was no exception to the rule: if his paintings are exhibited in the greatest art workshops in the world today, it is because each of them tells a story.

 

From his real name Abdoulaye Diarrassouba, born October 21, 1983 in Abidjan, Aboudia is a world-famous Ivorian painter.

 

After studying at the Center des Arts Appliqués de Bingerville and graduating with a specialty in mural art in 2003, he stood out for his original way of painting, directly inspired by the graffiti made by young people on the walls in the streets of Abidjan. Particular graffiti for a particular youth, sometimes in lack of landmarks and in search of identity, we find them in almost all the municipalities of Abidjan and more particularly in the municipalities of Treichville, Yopougon and Abobo.

 

These unique graffiti, which can sometimes include names or even initials, are made by young lovers of the arts and painting, who have no framework in which to fully express their talent. This method of painting, overflowing with originality, inspires Aboudia, who makes it his specialty.

 

More than just an artist, he is a committed artist. He uses his art as a mirror, and through his paintings depicts scenes from the civil war that claimed thousands of lives in his country, giving his work a protest content and revealing the realities of society.

 

His paintings often recall the victims of this war, as a way for him to pay homage to them and keep their history alive, as in his work “Djoly du Mogoba”. You can see an army of children in front of a blood red canvas, and each child carries a gun or another weapon such as a spear.

 

We also find in his works, paintings that reflect his story with his companions “The môgôs” which means in the language “Nouchi”, a slang French, the faithful friends of every day. The môgôs of Aboudia belong to a resourceful and united youth.

 

In 2011 after the post-election crisis, he enjoyed international notoriety thanks to the photographs taken by Finbarr O’Reilly of Reuters, and his works were exhibited at the Jack Bell gallery in London in 2011 and then at the Cécile Fakhoury gallery in 2012 in Abidjan.

 

This is the beginning of a planetary success because since then, the works of Aboudia have not stopped traveling to the 4 corners of the world. Exhibitions at the Saatchi Gallery in London or the Nevada Art Museum in Reno, his work is regularly presented in contemporary art galleries in Abidjan, Dakar, London and New York, as well as in contemporary art fairs in London, New York, Marrakech or Lagos.

 

From precarious visual artist in the streets of Abidjan to the largest exhibition workshops in the world, Aboudia is today the spearhead of a generation of talented painters.