First Steps
Contemporary Ivorian art began with colonization. Initially a product of Western academicism, particularly French, it became emancipated in the early 1950s thanks to the pan-African consciousness generated by the Négritude movement. One of the pioneers of modern Ivorian art was the sculptor Christian Lattier, whose rope-like compositions made headlines by overturning the conventions of traditional sculpture. Abandoning the usual noble materials for wire and string, he detaches himself from the heritage of his ancestors and that of the whites, in a practice he calls "sculptural experiment". Nicknamed "l'Arbre tutélaire", painter Michel Kodjo was the first Ivorian artist to exhibit alone at Abidjan's Hôtel de Ville, three years before the country's independence. His works, which embody the fusion of traditional and contemporary art, will be exhibited in Paris, New York and Frankfurt.
Breath of independence
Shortly after independence, the young Côte d'Ivoire was in a hurry to build up a strong national culture in order to position itself on the international scene. The emphasis was on training. The foundation of the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts d'Abidjan was entrusted to sculptor Marcel Homs in 1961. Christian Lattier and ceramist Yao Dogo were the first Ivorian artists to join the teaching staff. The school was home to the future greats of Ivorian art, including the group of students behind Vohou Vohou, a movement based on questioning the aesthetic canons imported from France.
Naive painters
The future Conservatoire régional des arts et métiers in Abengourou is at the origin of an important trend in contemporary Ivorian art: the naïfs. Their paintings, concentrated in freshness and innocence, deliver an immediately legible art that doesn't take itself too seriously. Painting the little things, whose hyper-democratic extension finds its inspiration even in the street, has the advantage of speaking to everyone, which explains why the naïfs are so popular in Côte d'Ivoire. Among its illustrious representatives are Augustin Kassi, known for his opulent Ivorian women and market scenes; Camille Kouakou, with his acid-sweet colors and dizzying profusion of detail; and one of the undisputed masters of the genre, Idrissa Diarra, whose prolific work is characterized by remarkable architectural complexity and extraordinary purity of line and color.
Vohou-Vohou
This decisive trend in Ivorian art was born in 1985 with a manifesto exhibition organized at the French Cultural Center by young "dissident" painters. Vohou Vohou, which means "anything" in dialect, is an art form based on recuperation, yoking and collage of heterogeneous materials on stretchers, highlighting the natural riches of the Ivorian terroir: tapas (beaten wood bark), cowrie shells, rattan, sand, glue, feathers, fish bones and so on. By rejecting expensive materials imported from France in favor of local raw materials, the members of Vohou Vohou aim to promote a purely African aesthetic free of academicism, paving the way for a creative freedom that will lead to abstract art.
Lone Riders
There are some fine individual achievements, such as those of Jacques Samir Stenka and Ouattara Watts. A native of Bingerville, Stenka considers himself an abstract mystic, with over 25,000 canvases to his credit, some of which have joined the Quai Branly museum collection. The first African painter to enter the Beaux-Arts in Paris, he depicts the stylized characters of a personal cosmogony, in which women and Egyptian ancestors figure prominently. His pictorial language is the fruit of a journey into the beyond through the great lost civilizations, indelibly marked by the black man. A messenger from the "Other World", his language has been described as "mediationism". Ouattara Watts is the most American of Ivorian artists. Initiated by his healer grandfather into the mysteries of nature and the cosmos, the painter is a legend for having helped open the doors of galleries to black artists, but also for his friendship with Jean-Michel Basquiat, who convinced him to try his luck in New York. His imposing, rhythmic canvases-sculptures question his relationship with the world in an interweaving of cryptic symbols, materials and mottled objects, adorned in dark or luminous colors. Without denying his African heritage, the visual artist enriches it with the "elsewhere" and "others" that inspire him.
Frédéric Bruly-Bouabré (1921-2014), a key figure in contemporary art and a purveyor of the continent's wisdom, eludes classification and stands as a monument to national heritage in every category. Along with Ouattara Watts, he has been one of Côte d'Ivoire's most highly-rated artists for over a quarter of a century. Attentive to his impulses, this self-taught artist's art is nonetheless intellectual and philosophical. At once draftsman, scribe, philosopher and mystical poet, Bouabré is the brilliant inventor of a "poégraphie" based on the natural signs inscribed in the stones of his native village. His pictographic alphabet of 448 signs is used to retranscribe the great mythological tales of the Bété people. Otherworldly naiveté, purity fallen from the heavens, his "saying" is expressed in automatic writing in strange little childish paintings, all produced in the same format, with a ballpoint pen and colored pencils, on cardboard used to wrap the locks of hair imported from Asia and adorned by Abidjan women. Some of his works are on show at the Musée des civilisations de Côte d'Ivoire and La Rotonde des arts contemporains.
Cross Trends
Many Ivorians are now improvising as artists with the sole aim of producing "best-sellers" for tourists and other potential customers. Pseudo-naïf inspired by the great masters of the Abengourou school, or approximate sub-Vohou, can be found just about everywhere. Genuine talent often finds its audience abroad, and those who can, move abroad. In the face of the State's lack of involvement, gallery owners, patrons and private structures take over. Creative energy is reflected in the emergence of talents such as Aboudia - often compared to Basquiat - known for his monumental canvases of the battle of Abidjan, and whose wild, childlike, colourful "Nouchi paintings" have joined the prestigious Saatchi gallery, as well as Jean Pigozzi's private collection of contemporary African art. Other highlights include sculptor Demba Camara and his "art toys", fetishes revisited in manga style; painter Pascal Konan, an extraordinary interpreter of the African city and its emotions; and visual artist Yéanzi, creator of incredible "recycled portraits". As for photography, Abidjan has seen a dynamic and eclectic scene develop over the past decade. While the older generation (Ananias Leki Dago, Macline Hien, Franck Abd-Bakar Fanny, François-Xavier Gbré, Seybou Traoré, Dorris Haron Kasco...) have proved their worth, their talent is improving with time. Young photographers such as Joana Choumali, Paul Sika and Phillis Lissa (Ly LaGazelle) are taking up the baton.
Private Network
Galleries and showrooms are multiplying in Abidjan to welcome the emerging art scene. Among the leading promoters of the fine arts are Simone Guirandou(LouiSimone Gallery), Yacouba Konaté (La Rotonde des arts), Illa Donwahi (Fondation Charles Donwahi), Thierry Dia(galerie Houkami Guyzagn), Jacob Bleu(LeBasquiat Art Gallery), Werewere Liking(Village Ki-Yi), Marie-Josée Hourantier (Bin Ka Di So), Cécile Fakhoury(galerie Cécile Fakhoury), Monique Kaïdin Le Houelleur (Villa Kaïdin). Less well known to the general public, passionate young people are doing their bit to shake things up and spotlight promising talent. Such as the association A'Lean & Friends, which organizes Cité des Arts, an event launched in 2016, thanks to which the public has been able to discover Halidou (painting), Essoh Sess (painting, poetry, street art) and Ly LaGazelle (photography), or Isabelle Zongo, who at the end of 2017 launched the first digital platform promoting arts and culture with a focus on Africa, the ORIGINVL Foundation(www.originalfound.com).
Public Messenger
Ivorians' penchant for creativity has naturally led them to express themselves in public spaces. Initially frowned upon, street art has come to be appreciated as an added value to the territory. After that, its role in educating and informing the population, in the form of graffiti sketches, opened the way to recognition. Over the past twenty years or so, street art has literally become a part of everyday life, even becoming institutionalized, as in Abobo. Schoolchildren in this commune are the originators of gbôchôli, a kind of signature made up of names and numbers that can be seen in the local Plaque district. The street art craze is exploding on the walls of Abidjan. Among the giant frescoes, look out for the dignified and distinguished women painted by artist YZ. Of Franco-British origin, she combines art and politics in her Street Vendors project, which depicts street vendors in different parts of the city. Also on view are works by young graffiti artists invited to express themselves on the walls of the former Village des Partenaires in Treichville. Several dozen works tackle a variety of themes in this pioneering project in Abidjan.
