Ouattara Watts

Born in 1957 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Ouattara Watts lives and works in New York, United States. Originally from Korhogo, in northern Ivory Coast, he left Abidjan in the late 1970s and moved to Paris, where he enrolled at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. Ten years later, he met Jean-Michel Basquiat, who invited him to join him in New York. Since then, his unique approach has been presented at major events around the world. In addition to numerous solo exhibitions, his work has been featured in notable exhibitions such as The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa, 1945-1994 at MoMA PS1 (2001, curated by Okwui Enwezor) and Body of Evidence at the Smithsonian Museum for African Art in Washington. He is regularly exhibited at the Dakar Biennale and the Venice Biennale. More recently, his works have been included in the exhibition Afriques Capitales in Paris (curated by Simon Njami).