MEET THE ARTIST introduces Ethan Cohen, founder of the Ethan Cohen Gallery, who will today be introducing Aboudia, one of the brightest emerging stars in the contemporary art landscape. Read on to discover what Ethan Cohen, founder of the Ethan Cohen Gallery, finds facinating about this emerging artist.

Kamiar Maleki : Let’s jump right in, tell us a bit about Aboudia and give us an overview of his work? 

Ethan Cohen: To know Aboudia first you must know his upbringing. Abdoulaye Diarrassouba, a.k.a Aboudia, was born in Abidjan in the Ivory Coast, the only child of his parents but with 8 half-siblings. His parents were present, but had to work, and so he spent much of his time away from home – as a child of the street. In Abidjan, they are called Nouchi Children.  

For many of these Nouchi Children, who did not have a lot going on at home; did not have a lot of money; may or may not be attending school, life was tough. It’s a challenging environment. Aboudia did have a passion at a young age, and that was drawing – and, as I understand, he spent enough time drawing that he was noticed by some missionaries who encouraged his passion for drawing and pushed him to take art classes. 

Aboudia is a street artist at heart, but he’s not purely self taught. He has a formal art education, and in his work we can see conversations with so many influences – Picasso and Matisse who of course were openly inspired by the African tradition, Basquiat, Motherwell, and Cy Twombly as well.  There’s familiarity with these traditions, and he is a child of these traditions – modernism, abstract expressionism, and street art. That is why, when I first saw his work 10 years ago, I thought “wow, this is an artist that excites me”. 

Kamiar Maleki: No doubt Aboudia is one of the most exciting artists of the time. That said, it was a long ride from when you first began working with him 10 years ago and reaching the heights he’s reached now. Was there a moment during that time where you realized that he was really something special? 

Ethan Cohen: Maybe 6 years ago now, my high school, the Cambridge School of Weston, gave Aboudia an award of achievement as a young child who made it as an artist. He was very moved by the award, and as part of the ceremony the school held a seminar with Aboudia where he and the students painted together – even inviting students and teachers to join him in putting paint on his canvases.  

As Aboudia and the students started painting, it was really interesting, from the beginning it looked like just a mess, students were painting all different colors and Aboudia was just standing back and watching, but slowly he began to join in, first with his little touches on a few canvases but as the students finished their turns, he was painting more and more, and empowering their work with his own style. It was like watching Andy Warhol. I had never experienced anything like that before, each painting blossomed into an Aboudia work through and through, with the students providing the color palettes and general shapes which Aboudia turned into masterpieces. He really affirmed that he is first and foremost a graffiti artist, working with his environment. It doesn’t matter if somebody spilled paint, he works with it. It’s a Yin and Yang approach to painting. 

Kamiar Maleki: Is there a particular Aboudia piece that you think encapsulates his art practice? 

Ethan Cohen: Funny you ask that, you might remember a few years ago in the lower gallery there was this huge two by three meter piece, very male and female, dominated by characters with huge breasts and genitalia, an extremely striking and powerful piece. It reminded me of a 1907 Picasso piece shown at the Foundation Beyeler 4 years ago – it was so African, and it was so familiar. It immediately reminded me of this Aboudia piece, and it was so interesting that connection between Modernism and Tribal Art – Many of the modernists were inspired by African tribal art, none more than Picasso, and he was very open about it – and what strikes me about this Aboudia piece, and why it’s one of my favorites, is that this conversation between African tribal art, modernists, the abstract expressionists is all encapsulated in this enormous, striking painting. 

Kamiar Maleki: It's been really fascinating to get this insight into Aboudia’s art practice, but I thought I’d end the interview by asking the question everyone wants to know: Who is the next Aboudia? 

Ethan Cohen: To be honest, I don’t think we’ve even seen everything of what Aboudia has to bring us. He’s an evolving artist, dynamic, innovating, and of course he has a strong foundation – in 2012 for example he had this wonderful collaboration with the then-89 year old Frédéric Bruly Bouabré, an outsider artist who many consider to the be the father of contemporary art in the Ivory Coast, and who just had a 6 month exhibition at the MOMA this year – I think Aboudia’s legacy will continue to grow based off the foundation that Frédéric instilled in him. 

To more seriously answer your question, of course my goal every day when I’m exploring the art world, finding talent, is to find the next Aboudia. I certainly represent and work with many amazingly talented artists who I think all have the foundation and dedication to achieve what Aboudia has achieved, but of course I can’t predict the future. 

Ethan Cohen exhibited with VOLTA both in NYC and Basel in 2022.

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