Election Poison

Ivory Coast-born artist Aboudia (b.1983), is noted for his large-scale, heavily layered, brutally energetic paintings that combine an innocence and spontaneity with the portrayal of a dark interior world. His urban landscapes are haunted by armed soldiers, ominous skulls and a populace hemmed in by violence and danger. Often claustrophobic and oppressive, his painting achieves a careful balance between pathos and agression, and the vitality of his style often recalls Basquiat. The riots that followed the disputed Ivorian presidential election in late 2010 greatly influenced Aboudia's painting. As the violence escalated, leading Ivory Coast * into civil war, daily life, in particularly the capital Abidjan, was thrown into turmoil. During this period, the artist took refuge in a basement studio and began a body of work responding to the horrors of the country's devastating political situation. Aboudia is also a master of multi-layered imagery as he mixes with great energy characters from his direct neighbourhood and fragments of found comic strips, advertising and the media. His unrestrained use of violent figuration is a welcome reminder of the power of paint to suggest the vitality and chaos of life.