Artists Embrace Brand-New Art Trade Gallery

Fledging as well as established artists are rallying at the newly opened art space in Dopemu, Lagos known as Art Trade Gallery where collectors and art enthusiasts are relishing the visual banquet, Yinka Olatunbosun reports.

today and it takes pride in showing artwork

Art traffic in Lagos is bound to change direction. The usual movement has been for the artists on the mainland to take their works to the island for exhibition. With the growing number of art galleries on the mainland, artists are beginning to drive influx of art traffic to their neighborhoods. Art Trade Gallery, a Lagos-based contemporary art gallery has opened its doors for artists and collectors in the heart of Dopemu. Housed in the Mat&Mic Event Centre, the gallery offers unique and original artworks at prices generally considered as reasonable. The gallery is designed to attract new lovers of art who are drawn to the aesthetic appeal of the works and are poised to acquire them. To create a variety of pieces, the gallery has collected works from both emerging and established artists who have showcased their skills in various media using diverse techniques.

Established after the lockdown in 2020, the gallery was conceived on the need to create a space for artists based on the mainland and beyond to showcase their works beyond Lagos Island where many art shows are domiciled. A recent visit to the gallery was quite revealing: every signed artist is under a six-month contract which is not exclusive as artists still have the liberty to show or sell their other works to other galleries.

Morounfolu Adesanya, the Founder, Art Trade Gallery, grew up in the neighborhood where the gallery sits. But his strong ties with the community was not the only reason why the gallery is situated here.

“As the city’s urbanization increases, it is no longer convenient to commute in Lagos. People want to go to venues that are closer to their homes. Our gallery is located inside an event centre that was completed in the middle of the Covid-19 restrictions,’’ he said.

For him, the gallery events tick all the boxes; meaningful, cultural, entertaining and certainly not a high-traffic phenomenon.
With an accounting background, Adesanya knew art was a good business as a young student when he bought my first artwork and later sold it at a profitable sum. Today, his vision is to see people buy artworks as one would buy a television set.

“Since we started the gallery, we have had all kinds of people come in to see the artworks and to make purchases. People now buy artworks as wedding or even birthday gifts or business gifts. You can get artworks within your budget and original artworks signed by the artists can increase in worth in just a few years. That is something that is valuable in your house,’’ he said.

The gallery has enjoyed some beginner’s luck. Buyers are showing up. And they are not the usual art collectors.

“A young lady came to the gallery and bought the very first artwork. She was buying it for her bedroom. We have had people buying artworks as wedding gifts. People can hardly say the price of an art work but if you give them a TV, they know the price,’’ he said.

Art Trade Gallery is a community of creatives including Jimoh Lukman, Eugene Aghimien, Hanson Okere and Adetola Adenuga who are among the first set of artists signed by the gallery.

Jimoh, a versatile artist is a product of the Yaba College of Technology. He draws inspiration from African motifs, culture, contemporary issues and the society. He has executed various commissions such as stained glass in churches, murals and numerous portrait paintings.

The gallery owner gives us the freedom to do any work,’’ he said in a brief chat. “The first time I heard about this place, I didn’t come with my work. I looked around and saw paintings.’’ Satisfied by what he saw, he returned with his pieces and sealed the contract. He didn’t keep the good deal to himself. He shared it with Aghimien, a Benin-based multi-disciplinary artist. Essentially a painter, Aghimien has explored the integration and sustainability of various fibrous materials and pigments on canvas and other unconventional support. With a first and second degree obtained from the University of Benin, he has a very visible presence in the art scene from participating at group and solo exhibitions in Benin and Lagos.

“I was skeptical initially and I asked if the artist would not inflate their price which could hold back their work from selling. He said he would make some publicity and then I signed some documents and brought in my works,’’ he said.

Collectors often buy works from galleries because of authentication and documentation. For Hanson Okere, a sculptor and pyrography artist, creating an authentic means of self-expression has been his dream since he was a child. After his graduation from the University of Port Harcourt, he explored pyrography more.

“I relocated to Lagos in 2019 and as at last year, my work, ‘The Ecstasy of A woman’ trended on Twitter and that’s where I started,’’ he recounted.

Growing up in Mushin in the midst of artists and commercial art, Adetola Adenuga, built his career as a multi-media artist with research and experiment.

“I think this will help a lot of younger artists. My father is an artist he did a lot of screen printing and commercial art in Mushin. I have a graphics studio in Mushin where we are into printing, signage and more,’’ he revealed. He was also referred to the gallery by Jimoh.

The co-founder, Art Trade Gallery, Afolabi Adesanya, revealed that the gallery aims to make artworks affordable to everyone.

“Actually, this idea had always been in the mind of the CEO before the lockdown. He owns this building and it has been set up as a multipurpose building and he set aside the top most floor for the arts. It just happened that the lockdown caused a delay but here we are,’’ he said, excitedly.