Aboudia Untitled captures the raw and emotive street culture of his hometown Abidjan, drawing inspiration from the graffiti and tribal art that surrounded him. Complex imagery of street children’s faces are distorted and intermixed into semi-nightmarish smiles, their eyes peering out blankly towards the viewer. The space between the humanoid figures is chaotic, sections of color haphazardly peeking through the streaky beige background that envelops the canvas. Static bodies are painted in forms of muted oranges, yellows, blues, and blacks; some have arms that remain frigid at their sides, while some are missing their limbs. The rushed brushstrokes create juxtaposition throughout the work, creating a delicate balance of harmonious tension and brevity. The figures disappear into the dismal background, symbolic language for the realities of poverty.

Using his trademark style “Nouchi”, which derives from the street culture of children, referring to the street patios adorned around Abidjan which inspires Aboudia’s work; a world between reality and a dreamscape, an amalgamation of surreal images that come from his concepts and thoughts as a response to poverty and deprivation. To Aboudia, Nouchi represents his life, his upbringing, his journey, and the plight of all impoverished street children. Rendered in oil sticks, acrylics, collage, and spray paint, his works are noted for stark lines of color that grow electrically.

He examines everyday life in Côte d'Ivoire, with particular attention to its history of conflict. Drawing on images that defined his early life growing up in poverty on African streets – street art, traditional tribal art, violence from the civil war, the poverty of the street children of Abidjan, the social inequalities of his hometown – and he reimagines and condenses them into complex and vivid paintings.

This oil on canvas is hand-signed by Aboudia (Abidjan, 1983 - ) in orange paint in the lower center, and is a unique and original work.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
Aboudia Untitled is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the final sale of the work).

1. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this work.

About the Framing:
Aboudia Untitled is framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, presented in a complementary moulding and optical grade Plexiglas.