Ouattara Watts (Ivory Coast, born 1957) Matrix 00d
Ouattara Watts (Ivory Coast, born 1957)
Matrix 00d
signed, dated and titled (verso)
acrylic, oil and oilstick on canvas
200 x 260cm (78 3/4 x 102 3/8in).
(unframed)
Footnotes:
Provenance
Acquired from the Magazzino d'Arte Moderna, Gallery, Roma;
A private collection, Italy;
Acquired in VENDITA OPERE D'ARTE
LIQUIDAZIONE GIUDIZIALE BIOERA S.P.A;
A private collection, Italy.
Exhibited
Rome, Magazzino d'Arte Moderna, Ouattara Watts: Outlaw, 16 December 2008-31 January 2009.
Milan, FM Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea, Frigoriferi Milanesi, Il Cacciatore Bianco / The White Hunter, 30 March-3 June 2017.
Monumental in scale and rich in symbolic complexity, Matrix 00d is a compelling example of Ouattara Watts's distinctive visual language. Across its expansive surface, numbers, signs, geometric forms, and vivid colours coexist within a composition that appears at once carefully structured and instinctive.
Born in Ivory Coast and educated in Paris, Watts moved to New York in 1988 upon the encouragement of Jean-Michel Basquiat, with whom he formed an immediate artistic friendship. Yet, Watts would forge a trajectory entirely his own, continuously resisting confinement to a single geography or cultural tradition. His paintings instead inhabit what the artist has described as a vision 'beyond geography', drawing freely upon West African cosmologies, mathematics, spirituality, music and abstraction. Indeed, his international recognition culminated in his participation in both 'Documenta 11' and the Whitney Biennial in 2002, as well as also presenting at the Venice Biennale in 1993.
The title Matrix itself suggests an underlying structure: a space from which forms, ideas and relationships can emerge. Numbers and enigmatic signs punctuate the composition, while layers of colour and gesture give the painting an almost musical rhythm.
Immersive and enigmatic, Matrix 00d transforms the canvas into a field of connections. A space in which different histories, symbols and ways of understanding the world converge into a singular cosmology.
This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * TP
* VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.
TP For auctions held in Scotland: Please refer to the catalogue and/or after-sale information or contact Edinburgh@Bonhams.com for more information. For all other auctions: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (The Packengers, Unit 9, Abbey Mead Industrial Park, Brooker Road, Waltham Abbey, EN9 1HU, England, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue and/or after-sale information, sent out to all buyers post-sale. Please note transfer and storage charges will apply to any lots not collected after 10 calendar days from the auction date.
For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Ouattara Watts (Ivory Coast, born 1957)
Matrix 00d
signed, dated and titled (verso)
acrylic, oil and oilstick on canvas
200 x 260cm (78 3/4 x 102 3/8in).
(unframed)
Footnotes:
Provenance
Acquired from the Magazzino d'Arte Moderna, Gallery, Roma;
A private collection, Italy;
Acquired in VENDITA OPERE D'ARTE
LIQUIDAZIONE GIUDIZIALE BIOERA S.P.A;
A private collection, Italy.
Exhibited
Rome, Magazzino d'Arte Moderna, Ouattara Watts: Outlaw, 16 December 2008-31 January 2009.
Milan, FM Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea, Frigoriferi Milanesi, Il Cacciatore Bianco / The White Hunter, 30 March-3 June 2017.
Monumental in scale and rich in symbolic complexity, Matrix 00d is a compelling example of Ouattara Watts's distinctive visual language. Across its expansive surface, numbers, signs, geometric forms, and vivid colours coexist within a composition that appears at once carefully structured and instinctive.
Born in Ivory Coast and educated in Paris, Watts moved to New York in 1988 upon the encouragement of Jean-Michel Basquiat, with whom he formed an immediate artistic friendship. Yet, Watts would forge a trajectory entirely his own, continuously resisting confinement to a single geography or cultural tradition. His paintings instead inhabit what the artist has described as a vision 'beyond geography', drawing freely upon West African cosmologies, mathematics, spirituality, music and abstraction. Indeed, his international recognition culminated in his participation in both 'Documenta 11' and the Whitney Biennial in 2002, as well as also presenting at the Venice Biennale in 1993.
The title Matrix itself suggests an underlying structure: a space from which forms, ideas and relationships can emerge. Numbers and enigmatic signs punctuate the composition, while layers of colour and gesture give the painting an almost musical rhythm.
Immersive and enigmatic, Matrix 00d transforms the canvas into a field of connections. A space in which different histories, symbols and ways of understanding the world converge into a singular cosmology.
This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * TP
* VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.
TP For auctions held in Scotland: Please refer to the catalogue and/or after-sale information or contact Edinburgh@Bonhams.com for more information. For all other auctions: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (The Packengers, Unit 9, Abbey Mead Industrial Park, Brooker Road, Waltham Abbey, EN9 1HU, England, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue and/or after-sale information, sent out to all buyers post-sale. Please note transfer and storage charges will apply to any lots not collected after 10 calendar days from the auction date.
For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
