Aboudia

Aboudia (Abdoulaye Diarrassouba) is a contemporary American-Ivorian artist whose vibrant paintings reference his experiences growing up in Abidjan, the capital of the Côte d’Ivoire. Born Abdoulaye Diarrassouba on October 21, 1983, in Abidjan. He attended the Centre Technique des Arts Appliqués in Bingerville.

Works such as Le Petit Chien Rouge (2018), draw on his interest in the lives of homeless youths and their graffiti. “You have to show that, despite the pain and the sadness and the suffering, these children are happy,” Aboudia has said. “That’s what I do with color, show the joy of these children.”

Bearing witness to the 2010-2011 civil war in Abidjan from his studio window informs his work. He has created several paintings conveying the terror of active fighting he saw in the streets below, depicting youth in his city’s toughest neighborhoods and the violent post-election conflict that ravaged Abidjan in 2011.

While his recurring skull, soldier, and bullet motifs speak to unthinkable trauma and brutality, Aboudia’s bright color palettes reinforce the enduring innocence of the children who live amid the chaos.

His work is often described as a mixture of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Jean Dubuffet. In his vibrant, large-scale mixed-media paintings and drawings, Aboudia takes inspiration from the aesthetics of graffiti and traditional African carvings.

Aboudia has exhibited widely across Côte d’Ivoire and in London, Paris, New York, and Marrakesh, among other cities.

His artwork has been acquired by the Saatchi Gallery, the Jean Pigozzi Collection of African Art, the Nevada Museum of Art, and the Contemporary African Art Collection (CAAC). It has sold for six figures on the secondary market.

Aboudia lives and works between Abidjan and Brooklyn, NY.