He studied at l’École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France.
In Paris, he met Jean-Michel Basquiat at an exhibition opening in January 1988. Basquiat was impressed by Watts's paintings and convinced Watts to move to New York City. They had a very short but important collaboration. In the documentary called "Basquiat, Une Vie", we see Watts in his studio, working and talking about Basquiat.
Watts is an internationally recognized for Painting and Drawing. Watts is a jazz enthusiast, who merged music and art in paintings and collages by using recycled everyday materials.
Watts lives and works in New York City.
Ouattara watts
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2015 Galerie Boulakia, PARIS, France
2012 OUATTARA WATTS ; VERTIGO BY Vladimir Restoin ROITFELD NEW YORK, U S A
2010 Hess Art Collection [1], International Contemporary Art at Glen Carlou, Paarl, South Africa
2009 Hess Art Collection, International Contemporary Art at Glen Carlou, Paarl South Africa
2008 Magazzino d’Arte Moderna, Roma, Italy
2008 Galeria Leyendecker, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
2008 " Andy Goldsworthy and Ouattara Watts" Two person exhibition, eleven paintings and watercolors from 1992-2006 by Ouattara at International Contemporary Art at Glen Carlou, Paarl, South Africa [2]
2007 " Ouattara Watts: For Lily" Mike Weiss Gallery, New York, USA [3]
2006 " Ouattara Watts: Works on Paper" Mike Weiss Gallery, New York, USA
2004 Tracy Williams Gallery, New York, USA
2004 " NH Crossing Currents - The Synergy of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Ouattara Watts" The Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover
2004 Magazzino d’Arte Moderna, Roma, Italy [4]
2004 Marella Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy
2002 Leo Koenig, New York, USA
2001 Magazzino d’Arte Moderna, Roma, Italy
1999 "Ouattara: in Roma" Magazzino d’Arte Moderna, Roma, Italy
1998 "Ouattara New Work" Baldwin Gallery, Aspen, Colorado, USA
1989 Marilyn Butler Gallery, Los Angeles, California, USA
1986 "OUATTARA" Centre Culturel de la Rochelle, La Rochelle, France
Selected Group Exhibitions
"2010 'In Dialogue' Four Generations of Painting" Curated by Peter Makebish, Charest-Weinberg, Miami, Florida, USA. Artists: Donald Baechler, Ross Bleckner, Kadar Brock, Brendan Cass, Sante D’Orazio, Matt Jones, John Newsom, Hermann Nitsch, Bill Saylor, Kenny Scharf, Ouattara Watts, Dustin Yellin [5]
2009 "Armory Show NYC" Magazzino d’Arte Moderna, Roma, Italy [6]
1991 " African Explores: New and Renewed Forms in the 20th Century Art " The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY. Traveled exhibition: Berkeley Art Museum, St. Louis Art Museum, Mint Museum of Art, The Carnegie Museum of Art, The Corcoran Museum of Art, The Center of Fine Arts, Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen; Antoni Tàpies Fondacion [10], Espace Lyonnais d’Art Contemporain, Tate Gallery
1985 Musée National des Arts Africans et Océaniens, Paris, France
Books and Catalogs
2010 Hess Art Collection" by Donald Hess and Myrtha Steiner. Hardcover: 372 pages, Publisher: Hatje Cantz (January 31, 2010), Language: English, ISBN 978-3-7757-2139-4, Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 10 x 1.3 inches
2007 Mike Weiss Gallery, USA, catalog
2004 Hood Museum of Art Crossing Currents - The Synergy of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Ouattara Watts, catalog
2003 New Museum. Black President: Fela Anikulapokuti, catalog [11]
2002 Cantz, Hatje. Documenta II Platform 5, catalog
2002 Biennial Exhibition Whitney Museum, New York, Prentice Hall/Abrams, catalog
1999 Magazzino D’Arte Moderna "Ouattara Watts in Roma", catalog
1995 Janson, H. W. History of Art. 5th ed. New York: Prentice Hall/Abrams, catalog
1989 Warren, Ben Michael and Vrej Baghoomian, eds. Ouattara, Art Random, Kyoto: Kyoto Shoin, International Co., Ltd., 1989. Introduction by Ben Michael Warren, catalog
Some Articles and Reviews
2015 Roxana, Azimi. LE MONDE France, Ouattara Watts,le plus americain des artistes ivoiriens LE MONDE France April. 28 /2015
2015 Henri-francois Debailleux, LE JOURNAL DES ARTS. # 434, France April 24 To May 7 / 2015
2012 GLenn O'BRIEN. TELLS OF MAGIC END SCIENCE IN THE PAINTINGS by OUATTARA WATTS . Alessandro Benetton's Blog March 26. 2012
2012 Karen Dayon, Ouattara Watts . COOL HUNTING. New York U S A . January 27/ 2012
2004 An article on Watts by Massimo Carboni published in Art Forum May.2004 [12]
2004 " Watts, l’ossessione magica dei numeri: L’artista ivoriano al Magazzino d’arte moderna" Pancotto, Pier Paolo, L’ Unita Roma, 04.February.2004 ( in Italian ) [13]
2002 Robinson, Walter. ArtNet.com Magazine Reviews, May 9 [14]
2002 Cotter, Holland. The New York Times, March 8 [15]
2001 Cotter, Holland. The New York Times, July 27 [16]
1995 Cotter, Holland. Mix of Culture, Politics and Bravado, The New York Times, May 19 [17]
"La pittura magica di Ouattara Watts" dated 01.31.2004 in Corriere della Sera (in Italian)[18]
"'Body' & Soul: Fleshing Out African Art" a review on Washington Post dated June 18, 2006 by Lynne Duke [19]
