Aboudia | Untitled, 2023 | Acrylic, mixed technique, cardboard, 58x42 (69x52)

Sign.:  LR: ABOUDIA 18

Adding the original artwork certificate with the author's signature.

ABOUDIA (b. 1983, Ivory Coast)

Aboudia, also known as Abdoulaye Diarrassouba, is a contemporary African artist working in his studios in New York and Abidjan. Inspired by his native Abidjan, the capital of the Ivory Coast, street art, and traditional sculptures, Aboudia named his style "nouchi." The Western African youth slang word "nouchi" (lit. "louse") symbolizes power; a person everyone fears, but who fears nothing. "Nouchi" also refers to local street youth and the slang itself - a mixture of local and French languages with its unique writing system.

Aboudia's paintings reflect the 2011 civil war in the Ivory Coast. His works often depict trauma, human brutality experienced; motifs of skulls and soldiers, African fetishes, and reflections of street life are common in his works. Through his art, Aboudia raises a question - if people can choose to fight, why can't they equally choose to live in peace and help those who need it most?

In 2022, Aboudia set an auction record - this year, a total of 75 of his works were sold, one of which - for 607,361 USD. His works have been exhibited in various exhibitions in major art cities around the world, including Basel, New York, Miami, Singapore, Hong Kong, Barcelona, and Copenhagen. Today, his works are in the most important international art collections - in Jean Pigozzi's contemporary African art collection in Geneva (CAAC), Frank Cohen's collection in London, the Saatchi collection in New York, and others.