Karl N’da Adopo

After a first life of digital collages, Toulouse-based painter Karl N'da Adopo returned to his love of drawing. By abandoning the cultural fusions for which he was renowned, he fled the algorithmic production that too often clashed with his desire to create. Long before learning Photoshop tutorials, Karl held a pencil and a paintbrush. Before his Ordilib', on which he laboriously operated Adobe software, Karl was already drawing at the age of 5, accompanied by Myriam, a friend of his mother.

In his cramped garage, which he transformed into a studio, Karl then returned to "real art," that of painting. When the heat spares the sheet metal that opens the door to his office, Karl spends his days in unexplored territory, in search of technique, shapes, astonishing colors, and symbols. In Toulouse, Karl has exhibited his works several times at Les Carmes and on the Toulouse campus of Ynov, a school he had prematurely left. This summer, he and Supraaaw designed a nearly 50-meter fresco for Big Flo et Oli's Rose Festival.

The elephants he paints pay homage to the national symbol of Côte d'Ivoire, his country, from which he continues to draw inspiration. Last January, national legend Didier Drogba himself added the third star to the jersey of his painting after the Elephants' CAN victory. Blue when it is a self-portrait, "Sama" illustrates the life of its young 25-year-old painter.

Recent projects include the exhibition "Du bout des doigts" (At your fingertips) in the Toulouse boutique Visionnaire in collaboration with Big Flo et Oli, as well as his participation in "Le musée imaginaire d'Oli" (Oli's Imaginary Museum) at the Musée des Abattoirs.

Collaborations and exhibitions that confirm Karl N'da Adopo as one of the most promising young faces on the contemporary Toulouse art scene.