Press dossier i have a dream aboudia out of africa gallery

PRESS RELEASE

ABOUDIA. I have a dream 2 (2016). 150 x 200 cm. Mixed media on canvas

Artist: Exhibition: Opening: Dates: Location: Contact: Web page:

ABOUDIA (Ivory Coast)

I have a dream

8pm Saturday, 3rd December.

The artist will be present, urban dance and cava cocktail From the 3rd December 2016 – 29th January 2017 Out of Africa Gallery Carrer Major 7, 08870 Sitges (Barcelona), Spain Sorella Acosta sorella@galeria-out-of-africa.com +34 618 356 351 www.galeria-out-of-africa.com

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Introduction

Influenced both by street art and as a consequence of his schooling in mural art at the Technical Centre of Applied Arts of Bingerville (Ivory Coast), ABOUDIA paints the streets in the manner in which painting is done in the streets This life of ups and downs, laughter and tears, remains his driving force, fuelled by his memories of charcoal drawings on the wall of a house in his village that so impressed him as a child. The artist also draws inspiration from the recollection of matchstick men and hairdressing placards, graffiti and tags, and indeed from melodious words and images from the "nouchi" the slang spoken by the youths in the street.

ABOUDIA is distinguished for his large canvases, upon which he portrays innocence and spontaneity.

These large format paintings display a Basquiat-like vitality, with an inside world where he fights for his dreams. With enormous energy, he combines elements from his neighbourhood with fragments of comics and ads found in magazines.

Aboudia opens his exhibition I have a dream, on Saturday, 3rd December at the Out of Africa gallery and presents a body of 10 very powerful canvases that can be seen until the 29th of January 2017.

Aboudia laid bare His inside world

ABOUDIA. I have a dream 6 (2016). 120 cm x 150 cm Mixed media on canvas.

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Born in 1983, Aboudia, real name Abdoulaye Diarrassouba, graduated from the CTAA (Technological Centre of Applied Arts) in Bingerville, although he acquired his style in the school of life on the streets. He chose to become a painter against the wishes of his parents and teachers who predicted he would become a tag artist. Although he was acclaimed by the international community of art critics and journalists for his work narrating the confrontations during the Abidjan civil war, Aboudia refuses to be considered a war artist.

His favourite subject are street children. "I feel close to them because when I decided to get involved in art, my family was against it and I left my home and lived alone. The Abobo railway station has always been a source of inspiration because it is a living and popular place. Many marginalized kids meet there. Because I noticed that these kids drew on the neighbourhood walls to express what was deep within them, it occurred to me - as I had also been there - to try and reflect on canvas the message portrayed by their pictures".

ABOUDIA. I have a dream 5 (2016). 100 cm x 200 cm. Mixed media on canvas.

An artist in movement If the canvases by this child prodigy are able to freeze time for the duration of an exhibition, not so their author who seems incapable of standing still. A kid from Abidjan who wandered its streets but who also roamed those of New York and London passing through Johannesburg and Barcelona in order to stimulate his vision. Aboudia, who became known to the international public thanks to his poignant pictorial testimony of the battle for Abidjan likes to define himself as a cosmopolitan artist, jetting non-stop between different places and cultures.

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ABOUDIA. I have a dream 3 (2016). 100 x 100 cm. Mixed media on canvas.

Aboudia, already in major art collections In 2011, Aboudia was acclaimed for his canvases, which documented the battle for Abidjan. In June of the same year he exhibited at the Jack Bell Gallery in London and at the Goethe Institute of Johannesburg, South Africa. From 2013, the artist is represented by Ethan Cohen in New York, The Saatchi Gallery in London and by the Gallerie Cécile Fakhoury in Abidjan. « Aboudia is the most globally recognized of the young African new wave artists. I have shown Aboudia’s paintings all over the world – New York, Basel, Miami, Hong Kong, Singapore, San Francisco, Lima. Everywhere I go, people find the vivid colour, dynamism and raw honesty of his work highly compelling », Ethan Cohen.

His canvases, acrylics or oils featuring collage, are found in the major international collections and in particular in the Contemporary African Art Collection (CAAC) of Jean Pigozzi, in Geneva, and in the Frank Cohen Collection in London as well as in the permanent collection of the The Saatchi Gallery of New York.

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Exhibitions 2015 Group show. Art Stage Singapore, Ethan Cohen New York Group show. “PANGAEA II”, The Saatchi Gallery, London Solo show. VOLTA New York, Ethan Cohen New York Solo show. “Nouchi Dream”, Ethan Cohen New York 2014 Solo show. “African Dawn”, Ethan Cohen New York Group show. Art Stage Singapore, Ethan Cohen New York Group show. Scope New York, Ethan Cohen New York Group show. Art Lima, Ethan Cohen New York Solo show. VOLTA Basel, Ethan Cohen New York Group show. “PANGAEA”, The Saatchi Gallery, London Group show. Art Silicon Valley, Ethan Cohen New York Group show.“Batik d'Afrique”, Ethan Cohen New York Group show. Art Miami, Ethan Cohen New York 2013 Nevada Museum, Nevada, USA Gallerie Cécile Fakhoury, Abidjan, Ivory Coast Solo show. “Quitte le Pouvoir”, Jack Bell Gallery, London Group show. Scope Miami Beach, Ethan Cohen New York 2011 Solo and group show “Les Fantômes”, Jack Bell Gallery, London Solo show. Goethe Institute, Johannesburg, South Africa Group show. “Revue de l’Art Moderne et Contemporain en Côte d’Ivoire”, Rotonde des Arts, Abidjan, Ivory Coast Solo show. “New works” Lab 2.0, Abidjan, Ivory Coast Group show. International Festival of Contemporary Art, Abidjan, Ivory Coast 2010 Group show. French Cultural Centre, Abidjan, “Arkadi”, 13th edition Group show. BICICI Bank headquarters, Friends of the Arts, 6th edition, Abidjan, Ivory Coast Group show. Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the independence of Ivory Coast 2009 Solo show. French-Guinean Cultural Centre, Guinea

Museums and private collections * The Saatchi Gallery Collection, United Kingdom * Jean Pigozzi Collection, Switzerland

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Franรงois Pinault Collection Olympic Games 2012 Culture Palace of Abidjan, Ivory Coast French-Guinean Cultural Centre, Guinea Ivory Coast Embassy, Guinea Abidjan Governor, Ivory Coast Bingerville Town Hall, Abidjan, Ivory Coast BICICI Bank Contemporary K., South Korea

Opening evening Saturday 3rd December, 2016, 8pm Meet and greet the artist + Urban dance + cava cocktail Out of Africa Gallery Carrer Major, 7 08870 Sitges (Barcelona) Spain

Social media fb Out of Africa Gallery Twitter @OutofAfrica_Art Instagram @outofafricagallery

Exhibition details From the 3rd December 2016 to the 29th January 2017 Opening hours: 11am-2pm / 6pm-8.30pm. Saturday late closing at 10pm

For more information kindly contact Sorella ACOSTA Director Out of Africa sorella@galeria-out-of-africa.com www.galeria-out-of-africa.com Tel. +34 618 356 351