Year: 2011
Medium: acrylic, paper collage on paper
Dimensions: 178.9 x 236.6 cm (70 3/8 x 93 1/8 in.)
Acquired from Phillips, 2022
In contrast to his recent works featuring typing haunting portraits, this piece by Aboudia exhibits a slightly different style. In this work, it appears to be a collage of existing images, likely from press photographs, overlaid with paint strokes on the canvas. Aboudia makes extensive use of such photographic collages, often heavily covered with layers of paint. However, in this work, not much is added to obscure the photographs, especially the white UN (United Nations) vehicle engulfed in flames, prominently featured in the title, remains largely intact. The artwork was created in 2011, a year of violent civil war in Côte d'Ivoire, when the UN Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) intervened militarily. This work is likely to be drawn under the theme of this conflict, which Aboudia himself experienced and survived. With the high acclaim of his true-to-life works from this period, Aboudia has then become an internationally popular artist. This work can be considered a very crucial work which was painted during the period that marked the start of his career.
