The God 2011

Curator: Look at this: Aboudia’s "The God," created in 2011. It’s an overwhelming explosion of color and form. I find it utterly captivating. What’s your first reaction? Editor: My first impression is that it is loud, not in color, but texture. The figures are raw. Is it acrylic on canvas? The layered application makes me think about what kind of labor or time goes into this process. Curator: Yes, it’s acrylic, layered with what feels like urgent energy. It reminds me of raw street art, channeling some kind of deeper, almost primal spiritual cry. Look at the figures, especially the central one with its hands raised. It's more of a surrender than celebration, maybe even resignation. Editor: Those screens seem odd within the picture; it introduces something digital. It seems almost as though Aboudia's figures become products in the composition, objects, which makes me think about how street art translates to the gallery. The tension lies in something about authenticity. Curator: Ah, that is something to consider. How the raw, spontaneous energy of street art translates, or perhaps gets commodified. To me, the television screens represent intrusion – the ever-present media, shaping our understanding of everything, even our spirituality. Editor: I'd want to consider the social or economic context too. Does the work sell to western audiences or an African market? If so, does this work depict God, consumerism, or its effects? It brings questions of interpretation, authorship, and also circulation of materials, images, labor to the fore. Curator: Yes, so the canvas becomes a stage. A battleground between the authentic self and the world constantly bombarding us with manufactured realities. You know, thinking about Aboudia’s background, growing up in Abidjan during political turmoil... the work reads almost as witness testimony, a sacred language attempting to capture chaos. Editor: Right. That shifts it back for me and how the materiality could relate to poverty, and what materials are available to hand. It looks found. Does Aboudia work with recycled matter, discarded objects? These are stories embedded within abstraction and depiction. Curator: What a fascinating way to put it – a story within abstraction. It seems we have untangled something, or perhaps, found ourselves even more entangled. It makes me realize how layered it is, both in its materiality and in meaning. Editor: Indeed, a complex interplay of production and intent—materials bearing witness.