Môgôs #4 2015

Aboudia made Môgôs #4 with acrylic and collage, in a style that just explodes with energy. It’s raw, immediate; you can feel the artist working right there on the canvas. The surface is a riot of textures and colors. Thick black paint dominates, but it’s offset by these vibrant pops of red, green, and white. Look at how the faces are outlined with bright neon green, it’s childlike, but also kind of unsettling. The application is rough, almost violent, with drips and scratches everywhere. You get the sense that Aboudia wasn’t trying to create a perfect image, but rather to capture a feeling, a moment. The eyes, big and wide, seem to be staring right through you. It reminds me a bit of Basquiat, actually, with its frenetic energy and its use of simple, almost naive forms to convey complex emotions. But Aboudia has his own voice, his own way of seeing the world. His art is not about answers; it’s about questions, about the messy, beautiful, and sometimes terrifying experience of being alive.