Ouattara WATTS, the first African in the MoMA collection

Historic entry of the Ivorian painter Ouattara WATTS into the collection of the prestigious Musée d ‘Contemporary art of New York (MoMA) in the United States.

Ouattara Watts, a visual artist who questions his relationship to the world

Disciple of the genius of contemporary art, Jean-Michel Basquiat, at the end of his life, Ouattara WATTS thus became the first artist of African origin to enter the Museum of Modern Art in New York, in the USA, known by the acronym MoMA (Museum of Modern Art). “It’s historic. It’s unprecedented, ”argues Auguste Errol MIMI, art critic and long-time friend of the Ivorian painter.

“For me, African, I see it like when Obama return to the White House, ”he translates his emotion. It was in January 1988 that he convinced Basquiat that he would join the United States where he began to paint, inspired by his habits and customs as a child of the Poro. The man has exhibited in renowned museums and galleries and major biennials around the world. Namely the documenta of Kassel – Germany (Ref. “Documenta II Platform 5”, Hatje Cantz, catalog), Venice Biennale (Italy), Whitney Biennale (USA), etc. (See CV).

Born in 1957 in Abidjan, in Ivory Coast, WATTS was initiated by his healer grandfather, originally from Korhogo. Convinced that “to be an artist is to be the guardian of the cosmos”, he subsequently discovered the great names of contemporary European painting (Picasso, Modigliani, Giacometti, Braque, Derain, Mondrian…) at the library of the cultural center French of the Ivorian capital.

Since the start of her career, Ouattara Watts’ work has been presented at major events, such as at the Venice Biennale in 1993, at Documenta 11 in Kassel in 2002, at 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London in 2014 or at the Dakar Biennale in 2017.

In his small milieu of Ivorian art, Ouattara Watts has become, it can be said without being mistaken, a legend of painting and contemporary African art. But beyond his meeting with Basquiat who deeply marked him, Ouattara Watts is above all a visual artist who questions his relationship to the world.

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