“I use cardboard, charcoal, and pencil to reflect the reality of these children. They draw their dreams using chalk and charcoal and anything else they can find.”
—Aboudia
The Ivorian artist Aboudia captures the essence of human struggle and resilience in Untitled, 2018, through a diverse range of media including collage, oil, and acrylic paint. In this composition, Aboudia envelops the canvas with layers of newspapers, upon which he paints seven figures who appear to be child soldiers. These individuals, with piercing gazes, embody the collective distress prevalent in Aboudia's work. Having gained international recognition for his artwork during the second civil war in Ivory Coast, Aboudia continues to investigate social issues of child soldiery and poverty in Untitled. The work’s bright colors and bold brushstrokes are representative of Aboudia's distinctive style, which the artist calls nouchi (the name of a local dialect in the artist’s hometown of Abidjan), which combines Abidjan graffiti aesthetics and street culture with traditional Ivorian visuals. Untitled holds Aboudia's bright, spontaneous artistic energy in tension with his somber subject matter.
