Le Maire et Son College 2021

Aboudia, sometime in the early 2000s, painted 'Le Maire et Son College', in what looks like acrylic or maybe mixed media. It's a total explosion of teal, pink, and yellow scribbles. I love the way Aboudia just dives right in, not afraid to make a mess. You can almost feel the energy of the street in those lines, like graffiti come to life on canvas. It is an image built up from many layers, and the artist has scratched into the surface, to reveal the layers beneath. Imagine Aboudia standing here, brush in hand, lost in the moment, trying to capture the chaos and beauty of everyday life in Abidjan. The way he uses color is so raw and intuitive, reminding me a bit of Basquiat, or even Dubuffet. There’s a real urgency in those marks, a sense that he has something important to say, and he's not holding back. It's all part of this amazing conversation that painters have been having for centuries, each one riffing off the others, pushing the boundaries of what painting can be.