Abdoulaye Aboudia Diarrassouba

Acquired directly from the artist

In the early months of 2011, when Côte d'Ivoire was in the grips of civil conflict following the country’s contested presidential election, most civilians in Abidjan steered clear of the city’s streets. But one young artist – Aboudia Abdoulaye Diarrassouba, known as Aboudia – made the streets of his hometown both his subject and studio. Aboudia's resulting body of work – paintings that capture the ghostly faces of soldiers and mourners and caskets marked ‘enfants,’ all executed in the artist’s signature, frenetic style – earned him international acclaim:

"My inspiration comes from the streets and from the fact that children are writing their stories on the walls. People at one point called me a painter of war. But I am not a painter of war; I was just painting at a time when there was a war. Since my time at L’École des Beaux-Arts, I’ve focused my attention on children. Voilà – children of the street and graffiti. I see young girls who want to become doctors drawing girls in Red Cross uniforms driving ambulances; I see young boys who want to become drivers drawing cars. These children are my true inspiration."