The Palace Guardian, 2013 by Dominique Zinkpe, courtesy of Arthouse.
One highlight from the Nigeria Art Market Report 2015 is that Nigeria-based collectors (local and expatriate) are warming to unfamiliar works from other countries. In 2015 the average price of works by non-Nigerian artists sold at auctions held in Lagos was 11 percent higher than that of works by Nigerian artists, despite a decline in the value and volume of works by Nigerian and non-Nigerian artists.
In 2015, the average price for the 20 works by non-Nigerians, most of whom are West African, was $7,942 while the 173 works by Nigerian artists averaged $7,019. In 2014, 25 artworks by non-Nigerian artists brought in $165,900 representing 11 percent of the volume and value sold respectively at auctions in Lagos, compared to 20 that sold for $158,845 in 2015 which accounted for 12 percent and 13 percent of volume and value respectively. Seven artworks by three artists – Ablade Glover, Cheri Samba and Dominique Zinkpe – brought in 74 percent of 2015 sales generated from non-Nigerian artworks. In 2014 the same number of artworks by one artist (Glover) accounted for 44 percent of sales. Works by Glover, the Ghanaian artist and bellwether of non-Nigerian artists, are in high demand because his style and themes are familiar (25 percent of the 70 pieces by non-Nigerian artists that have gone under the hammer in Lagos since 2013 are by the Ghanaian professor).
Several interrelated factors indicate collectors in Nigeria are growing more comfortable with works from other countries. Affluence and education and taste determine what collectors will pay for. By one estimate the number of middle-class households in Nigeria is set to increase by 73 percent, to 7.6 million in 2030, from 4.1 million in 2014. Wealthy African and European collectors are driving the demand for contemporary artworks from Africa. This rapid rise, however, is from a low base; prices of the most sought-after pieces by artists from the continent are small compared to millions paid for those from developed markets. How long will the demand last? It depends on the fashion, taste, expectations and perceptions of tastemakers.
Initially, collectors patronize artists whose works they understand, those they connect with aesthetically and conventionally. As a result they typically buy works from their own country. But as they grow richer, more educated and discerning they begin to seek art from elsewhere, they expand the boundaries of taste. And at this stage the interests of those who act as intermediaries, whether dealers or collectors, can influence tastes.
Ensconced in the premises of Eko Hotel, Lagos’ biggest hotel, Art Twenty-One staged an exhibition Chap Chap by Aboudia, its first this year. Most collectors in Nigeria are encountering the works of the internationally renowned Ivorian artist for the first time. Art spaces serve as intermediaries — between the artist (producer) and the collector (consumer) — and as gatekeepers; they select, organize, promote and educate. Caline Chagoury’s Art Twenty-One is known to promote young Nigerian and non-Nigerian artists whose works are not the traditional sort. Patty Chidiac, an art dealer, reckons Nigerian collectors are “happy to collect works from other West African countries because they are different”.
The paintings by self-taught non-Nigerian artists are abstract unlike those by Nigerian artists which depict familiar themes: portraitures and landscapes. And their sculptures are made from recycled material such as driftwood. Chidiac runs Alexis Galleries, located in Victoria Island on the same street as Alara, a concept store, owned by Reni Folawiyo and designed by David Adjaye. Alara hosted the private view of some of the works of art auctioned at Africa Now: Modern Africa by Bonhams, a London-based auction house, in 2015. Last December, Alexis Galleries staged an “unprecedented” exhibition of more than 55 paintings, sculpture and installation by 11 artists from four Francophone countries in honour of Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, the Obi Onitsha, a prominent collector, patron and promoter of the visual arts. The show, titled Francophonie, was “the largest collection of Francophone artists to exhibit in Nigeria”.
In Nigeria, the dearth of critics, to explain what makes an artist’s work innovative or different, means that curators, collectors or dealers, in the vanguard of acquiring or exhibiting works beyond the boundaries of local taste, are a major influence. In addition, works by non-Nigerian artists consigned to auction give depth to the market. Nigeria may not have a biennial or art fair but it’s the largest market in the region and thus the default place to sell. Some of the pieces are sourced through Alexis Galleries, e.g., Samuel Tete Katchan’s The Last Supper and Dominique Zinkpe’s Untitled sculpture sold at the Arthouse auction in May 2015 which saw its sales of works by non-Nigerians increase by 264 percent to $105,000, from $28,875 in 2014.
Alexis Galleries started representing Dominique Zinkpe, the Béninoise painter and sculptor, a month after she saw his works on display at a restaurant in Cotonou. One could mistakenly think Zinkpe was the only artist the gallery represented. In the ground floor of Art Cafe, where Chidiac responded to questions over a table with magazines, a monograph on Ben Osaghae, and auction catalogues, Zinkpe sculptures were conspicuous either standing or on wall, heedless observers of our conversation. She’s convinced that exposing other talents from West Africa gives Nigeria a fresh air of new good works. Even though Nigerian collectors have misgivings about Zinkpe’s Vodun-themed paintings, there’s healthy demand for his sculptures.
TAYO FAGBULE
Fagbule is the co-author of the Nigeria Art Market Report 2015, published by the Foundation for Contemporary and Modern Art, and sponsored by Diamond Bank.
