Ouattara Watts facts for kids

Ouattara Watts (born May 27, 1957) is an American artist from the Ivory Coast. He is famous for his unique paintings that mix ideas from African and Western cultures. His art often explores themes of spirituality and modern life. Watts's work is shown in important art collections around the world. Experts at Christie's, a famous auction house, even call him a "Top Artist."

Early Life and Art Journey

Ouattara Watts was born on May 27, 1957, in Abidjan, a city in the Ivory Coast. His birth name was Bakari Ouattara. He changed it to Ouattara Watts when he moved to New York.

Watts grew up in a home where different religious beliefs were combined. This included ideas from Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and traditional West African spiritual practices. His father was a surgeon and also a spiritual healer. This meant Watts received both a regular education and spiritual lessons as a child. When he was seven, he started painting pictures for his spiritual ceremonies.

At sixteen, Watts left school to study art on his own. He found books at a French Cultural Center in Abidjan. He became very interested in modern art, especially the works of Pablo Picasso and Amedeo Modigliani. Inspired by these artists, he moved to Paris, France, in 1977. There, he continued his art education at the École des Beaux-Arts. He also took classes with a French painter named Jacques Yankel. Watts spent several years in Paris, thinking about everything he had learned. He wanted to combine his African roots with his Western studies.

Watts's Artistic Career

Watts began showing his artwork in 1985. The next year, he had his first solo art show in La Rochelle, France. In January 1988, Watts met the famous artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in Paris. Basquiat was very impressed by Watts's paintings. He convinced Watts to move to New York City.

Watts and Basquiat became close friends. They even worked together for a short but important time. Watts was featured in a documentary about Basquiat, where he talked about their friendship. Watts has lived and worked in New York for most of his career.

He has become a key artist in the world of African American art. He brings new ideas to the art scene. His paintings have been shown in famous places like the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum. Some of his works have sold for a lot of money at auctions. For example, his painting "Afro Beat" sold for over $781,000 in 2022! This shows how much his art is valued.

What Inspires Watts's Art

Ka Cabala Voodoo (1995) at the National Museum of African Art in 2022

Watts's art is deeply shaped by his West African spiritual background and his life experiences. He uses his art to explore his identity, which blends many cultures. His large, abstract paintings often focus on themes like spirituality, Pan-Africanism (the idea of unity among all African people), and modern life.

To show these ideas, Watts uses a special style. He includes different symbols and images, known as iconography, in his art. He uses many materials, like found objects, photos, and paint. This helps him combine African and Western artistic ideas. He puts cultural references in his pieces to show how technology and spirituality connect. He contrasts modern things with older traditions.

Watts creates his own "visual language" in his art. He uses signs, math equations, and pictures of West African spiritual symbols. He also includes images from pop culture. Watts once said that his artistic vision goes "beyond borders." He explained that he uses recognizable images to be understood, but his real goal is to paint the entire Cosmos (the universe). His work connects to a style called Neo-expressionism, which became popular in the late 1970s. This connection comes from the unique symbols he uses in his art.