Aboudia Abdoulaye Diarrassouba, (Ivorian, born 1983)

Daloa, Cote d'Ivoire, 29th March 2011 70 7/8 x 157 1/2in. (180 x 400cm) unframed.

Daloa, Cote d'Ivoire, 29th March 2011
inscribed 'Daloa le 29' (upper left)
mixed media, acrylic and collage on canvas
70 7/8 x 157 1/2in. (180 x 400cm)
unframed.
Please note this work is currently located in our London galleries.

Provenance
Acquired from the Jack Bell Gallery, London in 2012;
The Saatchi collection;
A private collection.

Exhibited
London, Jack Bell Gallery, The Battle for Abidjan, 2011
London, Saatchi Gallery, Pangaea: New Art from Africa and Latin America, 2014
London, Saatchi Gallery, Pangaea II: New Art from Africa and Latin America, 2015

Literature
Saatchi Gallery, Pangaea, 2014, p.19.

This work comes from a series painted during the civil war of 2010-11. Following the disputed election of November 2010 the supporters of Laurent Gbagbo fought for control of the country against the supporters of Alassane Ouattara. The conflict ceased in April 2011 with the capture of Gbagbo, it had resulted in the death of three thousand people and the displacement of up to a million others.

Taking refuge in an underground studio, Aboudia would venture outside to witness the destruction. Here he depicts the capture of the western town of Daloa on 29th March 2011 by the pro-Ouattara Forces Républicaines de Côte d'Ivoire (FRCI) where they ousted the Forces de Défense et de Sécurité (FDS) of President Gbagbo.