By Chantelle Tindall
African art has progressed massively over the years and is now finding her pride of place on the World stage. One person responsible for such recognition and accolade is Chukwudi Onwudiwe who owns a private gallery in Manchester called Chuck Gallery.
Mr. Onwudiwe is married with three daughters and his business enjoys close family support. Speaking highly of his wife whom he describes as "a lifeline," he is very grateful for her vision, strength and energy.
The entrance to his gallery opens up into an amazing and truly unexpected space. Jazz music floats breezily in the background, creating a warm ambience. Beautiful paintings of all sizes, subjects and colours adorn the walls. You could be far away from Manchester, but the paintings transport you to warmer climates, and juxtapose beautiful noises, chaos and calm, that are reminiscent of the motherland. Africa!
The unassuming owner Chukwudi Onwudiwe gave me his time excitedly as he reflected on his beginnings and shared his hopes for the future. His story began from his time as a member of Nigeria's National Youth Corps Service during the mandatory one year service in Benin City, Edo State after leaving University. He was fascinated and full of admiration for the talented indigenes at their skills in arts and craft. Admiring greatly their capacity to create with a high degree of skill despite their impoverished state. Stating that "creativity requires a play of the mind, and the power around the mind to open it up to possibilities."
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Contrasting the billionaire founders of Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft and the possibility of their minds to conceive the ideas they have, with the un-noticed and unappreciated Benin artisans, he realised it was not the skill and creativity that differed their fortunes but an ability to market. That was a light-bulb moment. These Artisans did not have the ability to properly market their works. It became the stimulus for him to go into art dealing.
As a novice, his next move was to visit different art galleries in Lagos to learn more. One of such was Aragon Gallery which exposed him to other forms of art. On his visit to the galleries, he saw works of art that he would have loved to purchase but sadly were mostly out of his financial reach. Another light-bulb moment saw him visiting all the prominent Polytechnics and Universities including YabaTech and UniBen, hoping that first hand dialogue with students would allow him to market their works. It was not easy but he was determined. Fortunately, some agreed and his foray in the business of Arts dealership began. He had to work tirelessly, making early morning starts to Banks, Secretariats, and other offices trying to sell these art works. Slowly but surely, it began to pay off as he made sales, albeit by almost giving works away. Importantly they all added up and finally afforded him a car.
Furthermore, Onwudiwe felt an urge to further his education as through arts dealing he came in contact with very influential and highly educated people. A need to develop a better and more respectable relationship with them became apparent. He attended University of Benin where he studied Law and during this period be began exhibiting in Abuja thus broadening his scope.
He relocated his arts business from Nigeria to Manchester due to his wife who was studying for her Master's programme there. Commuting between Lagos and Manchester to see his family, operate his business, and with a new baby, became too much to bear - so she secured him an admission to study for a Master in Law; later securing another admission for him to further study Arts Management and Policy Practice at the University of Manchester.
Finally, she found the gallery site and secured the space. This led him to conclude that "when a woman is determined to achieve something, she goes a long way for it." However, as a Lagosian at heart, he didn't buy into her vision of turning an old Gym in Manchester into an Arts Gallery; he wanted to return to Nigeria and this saw the space remaining empty for a year, with on-going rent for an unused space.
Following a re-think, he completed his internship at the Salford Museum where he met Dave Robinson with whom he eventually designed the space. With undivided attention he converted it, giving it the semblance and ambience of an Arts gallery. Assuming sole duties he had to simultaneously develop the collection and grow the audience. Exhibitions he states "draw the attention of the audience." The basis for starting the business was out of a deep interest to prove the point that African art and arts from Africa is comparable to arts anywhere in the world and intrinsically rich and respectable. The quality of the art must always be reputable. Onwudiwe also stated that they now have a catering and a private dining arm which play host to out of office sessions and meetings, as a way of generating extra funding for the gallery. He states that networking is key. While the business is developing, pushing the gallery to the consciousness of "Mancunians" as a space that promotes "African arts" is vitally important.
Onwudiwe is quick to point out that being recognised as promoting African Art only is limiting because "Art itself is universal" and African art is not necessarily different from arts from other parts of the world - therefore all quality art deserves gallery recognition. The art-works were initially sourced from Nigeria where he had begun developing relationships with artists aiming to give them the international recognition they rightly deserve. The gallery is open to local artists too, including Jessica Omitola, and Ekua Bayunu - a renowned artist was their Associate artist for a year, and she still consults for the gallery.
In Nigeria, the genre Hyperrealism took the nation by storm, and saw 11-year old 'Kareem Waris Olamilekan paint a picture of France's President Emmanuel Macron in two hours during his State visit. The youngster displayed a great amount of talent. In his view, Onwudiwe agrees the hyperrealist is talented and he respects his fidelity, however, these young artists who spring up need training especially in an environment where they can learn to grow, explore and develop their own techniques. Hyperrealism with a fresh and unique approach ultimately unlocks the true artist in that person. However, Onwudiwe frankly disclosed he struggles to see the art in hyperrealism. Citing a very conservative and candid opinion as it strips away the essence of what art means to him. "An artist should develop fresh approaches, as their style and techniques matter. They should be able to create an opposition to already established styles. Hyperrealism fails to present these qualities."
Onwudiwe points out that the "phrase du jour" in modernity is "ethical and sustainable". He feels that one way to capture the strength of an African artist is to ensure that they are happy, making them better able to produce. Adding that: "It is only fair that they get the full rewards and respect for their labour of love." He fully believes in sustainability, fairness, and ethical practices and is keen to highlight that most of the artists he deals with are highly educated and fully aware of Art's place in Western society. They are artists capable of looking after their own affairs - so treating them unfairly would be a mistake.
With no less than three exhibitions planned for this year and a burgeoning Manchester art-scene surrounding the gallery, the future looks very bright indeed. Chuck Gallery is indeed paving the way for African art and arts for Africa to take her pride of place among the best in the world.