Galerie Mikael Andersen presents the new works by Aboudia ‘CHILDREN PLAYING ON CANVAS’  and Joël Andrianomearisoa ‘PERFECTION; THE GRAVE OF OUR OWN EXISTENCE ‘.

Aboudia, born in 1983 in Abidjan, is known for his large-scale, heavily layered and brutally energetic paintings that portray an innocence and spontaneity combined with darker undertones. His urban landscapes are haunted by armed soldiers, ominous skulls and a populace hemmed in by violence and danger. ‘Painting is my drug’, Aboudia says. By showing the claustrophobic and the oppressive, his work achieves a careful balance of pathos and aggression. While the vitality of his style recalls Basquiat, the darker undercurrents and themes describe a battlefield similar to that of Goya. His expression of revolt and explosive, incendiary life in his everyday urban environment brings to mind artists from the great American tradition like Twombly with a mark- making reminiscent of Dubuffet.

Joël Andrianomearisoa was born in Antananarivo, Madagascar, in 1977. He lives and works between Antananarivo and Paris. The artist says of his practice: ‘The only thing that matters to me is to deal with time. And what frightens me most is never to be on time, to be outdated. My way of answering this challenge is to be permanently against the current’. In his ‘dealing with time’ Andrianomearisoa does not stick to a single chosen medium. His works on paper and textile are most indicative of his greater interests. Black features prominently, especially in his textile works, which fluctuate enticingly between the ephemeral and the permanent. These works are partly sculptured and partly left to chance and the serendipity of the material with which he works.

Opening  14th  February 2014, 6 – 9 pm

www.mikaelandersen.com