Footnotes

Provenance
Christie's private sales
Acquired from the above by the present owner

阿布迪亞
無題
壓克力 油畫棒 拼貼 畫布
2021年作

簽名︰ABOUDIA (下中)

來源
佳士得私人洽購
現藏家得自上述來源

In recent years, Abdoulaye Diarrassouba, also known as Aboudia, has become one of the most prominent African contemporary artists. Known for his highly expressive large-scale canvases and murals combining graffiti elements with imagery inspired by West African carvings, the 39-year-old artist now divides his time between studios in Abidjan, of the Ivory Coast, and New York.

Aboudia's distinctive style, which has drawn comparisons with the iconic work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, finds inspiration in the collision of the graffiti culture of Abidjan and the traditional wood carvings of West Africa. Aboudia calls this style 'nouchi', a reference to the slang spoken in the streets of Abidjan which is a hybrid of Ivorian and French vocabulary. Aboudia is particularly interested in the link between children in marginalised areas and graffiti as a mode of communication. As Aboudia has stated, graffiti is a means for 'these kids to express what [is] deep within them. Because I had also been there, it occurred to me to try to transmit their message by portraying their pictures on canvas'.

The materials that Aboudia employs in his works are a significant feature of his practice, with the majority of his works featuring heavy layers of mixed media. Whilst the figurative elements of Aboudia's work are inspired by street graffiti, his materials are often taken directly from the street itself. The artist often employs discarded materials found outside and in bins, such as cardboard, coal, torn pages of newspapers and magazines, and incorporates them into his paintings.

Now one of the biggest names in contemporary African art, Aboudia's work has been exhibited at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Nevada Museum of Art and the Royal Academy of Arts' Summer Show in London, among many other shows.

人稱阿布迪亞的阿布迪亞・迪亞拉索巴年方三十九歲，近年已躍居最閃耀的一位非洲當代藝術家。他自西非雕塑汲取靈感，並結合塗鴉元素，創造出張力十足的大型油畫和壁畫。阿布迪亞的工作室分別設於象牙海岸阿比讓和美國紐約。

阿布迪亞的藝術獨樹一幟，因此常有人將之與尚・米榭・巴斯奇亞的經典藝術相提並論。然而阿布迪亞的藝術養分，較多來自阿比讓的塗鴉文化與西非傳統木雕所碰撞出的火花，他更以「nouchi」一詞（意指阿比讓街頭一種混合象牙海岸語與法語的俚語）形容自己的語彙。他對於社會邊緣孩子透過塗鴉與外界溝通的做法尤其感興趣，誠如他所說，塗鴉是「這些孩子表達內心深處的一種管道，我也有過相同的經歷，所以藉由在畫布上描繪他們的圖像，將他們的聲音傳遞出去。」

阿布迪亞在許多作品中一層又一層地大量使用混合媒材，這也是他創作中的一大特色。他一方面經由觀察街頭塗鴉為作品創造出具象元素，另一方面直接在街頭尋找媒材，舉凡戶外和垃圾箱中找到的各種廢棄材料如紙板、煤炭、撕下來的報章雜誌等，無一不可成為畫作的一部分。

作為當代非洲藝術界首屈一指的藝術家，阿布迪亞的展出經歷極為豐富，作品見於特拉維夫藝術博物館、內華達藝術博物館和倫敦皇家藝術學院夏季展等各大展覽。