Armand Boua | Ivory Coast
BIO
Armand Boua was born in 1976 in Ivory Coast.
He studied at the National School of Fine Arts and the Technical Centre for Applied Arts, both in Abidjan.
The violence that followed the disputed Ivorian presidential election in late 2010 greatly influenced Boua’s work. The artist represents in his works the street kids of his hometown in powerful portraits that testify the violence and political struggles in West Africa. He wanted to show the lives of these street children in a way that not so many people can relate to.
Boua is noted for his textured and layered compositions, using tar and acrylic on found cardboard boxes. Each layer is applied and then scrubbed and stripped back, leaving abstract forms that come in and out of focus. Boua shows a careful balance between his heavy gestures and violent execution and the gentle treatment of his subject matter.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
Selected solo exhibitions:
2020
Armand Boua, Les Gnambros, Online exhibition, Jack Bell Gallery
2019
Armand Boua, Kouman de Kekechoz, Jack Bell Gallery, London, UK
2018
Armand Boua, Mogo de Poy City, Jack Bell Gallery, London, UK
2017
Armand Boua, Clache Moi, Jack Bell Gallery, London, UK
Armand Boua, Childen of Africa, AKKA Project Dubai, Dubai, UAE
2016
Armand Boua, Les Zinzins, Jack Bell Gallery, London, UK
2015
Armand Boua, Djossi a Yopougon, Jack Bell Gallery, London, UK
2014
Armand Boua, Enfants de la roue, Jack Bell Gallery, London, UK
Selected group exhibitions:
2020
1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London, UK
1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair,New York, New York, USA
2019
Art To Z: Spring Group Exhibition, AKKA Project Dubai, Dubai, UAE
2018
Rassemblement, Group exhibition, Jack Bell Gallery, London, UK
2017
Devil in disguise, Group exhibition, Jack Bell Gallery, London, UK
2016
Le Penseur, Group exhibition, Jack Bell Gallery, London, UK
2015
Studio Lumiere, 10 contemporary artists living and working in Africa, Jack Bell Gallery, London, UK
Pangaea II: New Art from Africa and Latin America, Saatchi Gallery, London
2013
Art et Nature, 4e edition, Katadji, Ivory Coast
2012
Un regard sur Abidjan, Société EIFFAGE, Sénégal
2011
1st Edition of Salon International des Arts Plastiques, Abidjan (SIAPA), Ivory Coast
2010
9th Edition of DAK’ART, Biennale of Contemporary African Art, Senegal 4th Edition of Festival d’Essaouira, Marocco
2007
1st Edition of Pinceau d’Afrique, Stockholm, Sweden 1st Edition of Festival des Arts Visuels, Abidjan (AVA), Ivory Coast
