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| A mixed media painting by Njideka Akunyili Crosby. |
From the record sale of a painting by late expressionist, Jean-Michel Basquiat, to the magical rise in Njideka
Akunyili Crosby's art market value, and total sales of over 78 lots at
Sotheby's debut art auction of modern and Contemporary African art, the
dynamics of art market has exposed a frightened fragility of most artists based
in Africa.
For artists of African descents,
these three separate sales provide a possible categorisation of who sells what (at where?), and not necessarily based on critical appreciation. It seemed that art value of most African artists based at home, is not insulated
from the geographical barrier that has hounded great talents — across professions — who practise outside the powerful economies of Europe and the U.S.
Whoever believed that art was
the only opportunity where creative professionals of Africa base could
excel at
fair or similar level with their counterparts from anywhere in the world should
better start reviewing such argument. It could be illusory, so suggests the
three sales that happened in the past few months. To be competitive at global, an artist in Africa
does not require sophistication of tools that attract African sportsmen, scientists and
other professionals who run to the west to lift their skills. Art, like any
other creative contents is intellectually driven.
Critical appreciation and evaluation of an artist's
work over a reasonable period of time, strengthen the market value of such
artist, so the norms have been forced down the psyche of art followers over the
centuries. Great; agreed. That norms perhaps, explains from 1988 when Basquiat died at the age of 27 till
date, was quite a while for his works to have generated the much needed critical assessment energy that distilled into $110.5m (£85m) in New York, few weeks ago.
Yes, that was quite in line with the tradition of art market. But the phenomenal and
magical rise of Akunyili is as much a joy to Africans as it also generates a source of
worry to some observers. In less than five
years of a U.S.-based art competition that exposed her work, Akunyili, most likely, could be a
case study in unprecedented rise of an artist's market value.
It is no
longer news that she has done it again. She has defied tradition. Akunyili, b.
1983, has a new auction record with her 2012 work titled The Beautiful Ones, sold for
£2.1 million (hammer price) or buyer's premium of £2.5 million ($3.1 million). Recall that last year, her
2012 painting Drown sold for $1.1 million at a Sotheby's auction.
The unprecedented
rise — for any African
diaspora artist — in sales of Akunyili's
works, in real art market context would keep connoisseurs,
aficionados and others in the business of art, scratching their head for quite a while.
When the artist's recent sales strayed into a discussion of a close associate
of Victoria Miro Gallery and I at the last Art Dubai, in UAE, it was disclosed
that the gallery "was embarrassed" by the "magical" rise of her work at
auctions.
In 2014, The
Smithsonian American Art Museum announced Akunyili as the
2014 winner of its James Dicke Contemporary Artist Prize. The panel
of jurors recognized her paintings as “bold yet intimate” but described the works as “among
the most visually, conceptually and technically exciting work being made today.” She was the
11th winner of the $25,000 award dedicated to an
artist younger than 50.
As Akunyili recorded £2.1m at
the said auction in London, 80 artists of combined modern and
contemporary divides struggled to sell £2,794,750 (about $3,600,000) for 79 lots sold out of a
total 116 displayed for sales, in the same city, at another auction sales.
I think the
evolving African art market is showing signs of more unexplained yardstick than
the mystery of art world in general.
It's a fragile prospect for African artists who practice from the
continent.
Basquiat who
died in 1988 was an artist for just seven years of his life. Having reached the $100m mark,
Basquiat now holds the record of
the most expensive art
auction by any US artist, with “Untitled”,
a 1982 painting in oil stick, acrylic and spray paint. The
painting depicts
a face shaped in skull form.
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| Untitled”, a 1982 work in oil stick, acrylic and spray paint by Jean-Michel Basquiat sold for $110.5m (£85m) |
At
this current period of what looks like a new dawn for African art market, the
indices are clearly being set not to favour outlets and artists who have no
links to European or American promotion or representation. Another Akunyili is
not likely to emerge from any of the artists sold at the Sotheby's London auction or
others whose works already have a known value in Africa. For example, it looks like an
uphill task for any of the powerful art galleries in Europe to represent an Africa based artist whose work already has a market value below a perceived expectation. It
is doubtful, for example, if Akunyili
could have been pushed by Victoria Miro if she already had a market value in any part of
Africa.
By
implications and challenge, art galleries and auction houses that are based in
Africa would need to expand their scope into the European and American market.
Art should not end up like football; artists all over the world have competitive potentials, but sports professionals don't. It is understandable why footballers
who play in Africa cannot produce similar skills of Cristiano Ronaldo or
Nwankwo Kanu or Didier Drogba. But I do not think the Basquiat's painting and his work in
general are out of reach for any artist in Africa to produce and get deserved critical and commercial appreciation. Perception as the real energy that drives the art
market world is the difference. Art outlets in Africa would remain shut out of
the perception game except there is a change in the patterns of doing business.
-Tajudeen Sowole is a Lagos-based writer on The Arts.
-Tajudeen Sowole is a Lagos-based writer on The Arts.
Art on chessboard with Tunde Onakoya, Lanre Olagoke
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Onyeka Onwenu's last major honour in Art of Afrobeats award
Soyinka at 90...revisiting Maya Angelou, superlatives of Nobel Prize
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Separating Yoruba religious tradition from Isese (2)
the problem is definitional..I see no reason why Basquiat should be considered "African"...the category merge has been convenient for some but as you say favours the diasporan artists who have better access and opportunity.
ReplyDeletehttps://artsouthafrica.com/220-news-articles-2013/2699-categorically-speaking-by-valerie-kabov.html
'Art should not end up as football', 😊
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