pendulum gallery

One thing every young man would hate to do would be to write a tribute about the death of another young man, more so, at a time, when the active life of that deceased young man is still half spent.

So do I feel today, as I write this tribute of tears for my friend, a friend of the arts, a gallerist , art business man and consultant, Peter Areh, who fell victim of the murderous knife of yet to be apprehended seven armed robbers or assassins?

Peter Areh, former banker turned gallery owner was the Chief Executive Officer of Pendulum Gallery, sited in the serene suburb of Lekki Phase 1 area of Lagos.

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Significantly, the entrance of Areh and his Pendulum outfit into the art and gallery space of Nigerian visual art scene was one of the transformative factors that redefined the business of visual art in Nigeria.

Prior before his coming on board in 1999, with the exception of perhaps, Chike Nwagbo’s Nimbus Gallery at Raymond Njoku Street, Ikoyi, Quintessence Gallery , Falomo Shopping Complex and Didi Museum, Akin Adesokan Street , Victoria Island, the gallery space was only known to be a place where artists could go and hang their works and waited for it to run for a few days or weeks in the name of exhibitions.

Little did many people know that one can professionally engage the business of art acquistion and marketing with the same professional and business bent intensity that will still classify one as some business man doing some serious work. Areh was one of the very best to introducing teeming young Nigerian investors into the potentials and treasures of art business..

When Areh, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka trained Accountant arrived in the scene after a tutelage at the Nwagbo’s Nimbus Gallery, and equipped with his background in accountancy and banking, he approached the business of art with a new candour and definition.

With all due respect, Areh would be seen as belonging to the class of art cum culture advocates in the country, who did not only advocate for a third tier market for the visual arts; but also fought gallantly to see that Nigerian visual art really moved to the third tier market economy.

This intercessory role of Areh would be seen in the several art auctions, which he helped to pioneer for Nigerian artists either in Nigeria or abroad.

The last of that aspect of his artistic intervention was the April, 2009 outing, which he patterned with Access Bank to have important Nigerian artists including Ben Enweonwu, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Uche Okeke, El Anatusi, Nnenna Okore, Jimoh Braimoh among other to feature in the widely advertised art auction organized in the UK by Bonhams.

In the course of his career as a collector, art manager and gallery operator, he beamed the searchlight of his visual business across all broad range of visual compositions: his treasures ranged from traditional crafts to modern sculptors and paintings.

He also worked with a wide range of artists: male and female: old and young and in doing all these, he relegated ethnicism to the background.
Besides gallery businness, he also related with a number of organizations in his adventurous bid to see to the promotion of Nigeria art.

He assiduously worked with the Nigerian chapter of Pan African Circle of Artists( PACA) on a number of projects geared towards the promotion of Nigerian art and artists.

One significant incident, which I remember very clearly was in 2003, when Peter himself, collaborating with PACA would personally drive me along with other culture journalists to NIMO, the country home of Uche Okeke in Anambra State to cover the 70th birthday of that octogenarian artist, whose professional intervention and innovative experimentations gave the institution of art scholarship at the University of Nigeria , Nsukka a definition and character.

That collaborative project resulted in the publication of a book of essays on the life and times of Uche Okeke titled, The Triumphs of Asele edited by polyvalent artist and scholar, Kyrdz Ikwuemesi and assisted by Emeka Agbayi and Uche Ene Orji.

A number of times, Peter Areh’s led Pendulum Gallery partnered with high profile Lagos Business School to host exhibition of works of Nigerian artists.

Peter was a humble man. Soft spoken and innovatively creative.

Within the short time he lived, the art community knew he was here: he was always at the scene and behind, all for arts: he was a thorough good soul. God grant him peace.

For every touch of his on the art landscape, art promoter and dealer, Peter Dubem-Areh who was brutally murdered by unknown gunmen on Thursday, made a stride, TAJUDEEN SOWOLE writes

WHEN works of Nigerian artists featured at the first edition of an art auction, Africa Now, organized by United Kingdom-based Bonhams auction house, art promoter and dealer, Peter Dubem Areh was behind the initiative.

Held last April, the auction was an opportunity to prove that Nigerian art remained strong as Ben Enwonwu's work topped the list of lots sold at the auction, which had over 30 artists from 11 countries as participants.

Such strides were the trademarks of Areh whose Pendulum Art Gallery had, in the past, promoted several artists, either in group or solo efforts. Sadly, the art gallery scene lost Areh on Thursday, July 2, 2009. He was murdered by yet to be identified gunmen suspected to be armed robbers.

The news of his death was received with disbelief by the arts community, particularly, members of his professional group, Art Gallery Association of Nigeria, AGAN. The President of AGAN, Chief Frank Okonta said Areh "contributed so much to AGAN, quietly. He was an asset to the art gallery scene, generally"

In a tribute send by the Society of Nigerian Artists, SNA, Lagos State Chapter, the Chairman, Oliver Enwonwn and Secretary, Dotun Alabi noted that "through numerous exhibitions, conferences and workshops, Areh worked tirelessly to promote contemporary Nigerian art, internationally. His death is coming at a time when there has been tremendous growth in the visual art sector to which he made significant contributions."

Painter and one of his closest friends, Krydz Ikwuemesi said: "Areh was very supportive of our activities, a dynamic art patron and promoter. In Nigeria, it is very easy to forget people so soon. I hope people will do something in his memory. Personally, I think it is too early to elaborate now on what and not to do for him."

Areh worked as a banker, having trained as an accountant at the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus before venturing into art.__

For someone who left banking job to set up a art gallery, money, could not have been the reason for Peter to be in the business of art promotion, argued another ex-banker, Biodun Omolayo who is also a gallery owner. "Areh did not appear to me as someone whose interest in the art gallery was all about money. No doubt that you set up business to make money, but I had on several occasions met Areh and I can tell you that the passion for art comes first. I am saying this because I know what it takes to leave banking job for art gallery."

Another member of AGAN, Mudiare Onobrakpeya of the Harmmattan Gallery, Victoria Island, Lagos said Areh would be remembered for quite a number of strides, one of which "was his ability to bring a rather regional group like PACA into the Lagos fold." Areh, he recalled, was the sole promoter of works of Uche Okeke and other big artists whose works were most sort after.

Recently, Areh shared his thoughts on the business of art.

Gallery as business of choice

Basically, I am fully into gallery business. But, this is Nigeria, you need to go the extra mile to achieve a set goal and be fulfilled, so I have other business like photography where we specialise in instant passport. I am also into oil and gas marketing. Pendulum is a sole proprietorship business, which I started on my own in 1999. It is very challenging operating this kind of business because of its elitist nature. The kind of people you find collecting works of art are educated men of timbre and calibre, exposed and visual image conscious people who can see the future. We are not really talking of just having money to throw around, but having the passion for art collection. It is not everybody that has money actually collects work of art. So it is not for 419 people, artisans, traders or non-enlightened member of the society or other low-income earners.

Rating of Nigerian artists

Artists here are no pushovers and can compete

favourably anywhere with renowned artists; especially the old and upcoming masters. The young artists still need adequate exposure to be more creative. My experience in the last five years dealing with different artists has shown that artists in the country need the right atmosphere and regular patronage to excel. In whatever one is doing, if the appreciation is not felt, the morale is low, and consequently, the out-put is affected. Even though we cannot accommodate everybody for certain reasons such as quality of works, the collections in our gallery cut across artists in the country.

We travel as far as Osogbo, Osun State; Enugu and up North in search of good works of art. And for those who really appreciate good works of art, our location, though a bit out of skirt is not far. More so, we do door to door marketing, so our patronage is high. Our horizon also goes beyond Nigeria as we maintain branches in overseas. Our London branch is in Park Lane while that of South Africa is Worcester.

Gallery and relationship with artists

Our business relationship with artists is high, if I may say. We have undertaken so many projects for the art movement and exhibitions with some artists. In 2003, we sponsored some journalists and photographers for a colloquial at Nimo of Uche Okeke at 70, and followed it up, thereafter, with a successful exhibition in Lagos.

Also, we have had the Index Group of Artists by Tayo Adenaike (African foremost water colourist artist), Prof. Obiora Udechukwu 's Spaces and Silences and several upcoming artists.

If we have to think in terms of the monetary aspect of gallery business, one would have shut down long ago. But we are investing in the future of the Nigerian art even though we are proud to say that no creditor has been at our doors since we started.

Cost of organising art exhibition

I cannot say it is out of reach because we have them in grades and can easily accommodate artists with potentials. We have a website where we advertise the works of most of our artists and have had the privilege of negotiating contacts for quite a number of artists with galleries outside the shores of Nigeria. This is our way of investing in the art. We are responsible for the annual Essay/Poetry/Painting and Drawing National Competition, which is our modest way of encouraging excellence in education, especially arts.

Collectors are on the increase. It appears that people are gradually becoming aware of the passion in art collection. Foreigners in Nigeria, contrary to the belief of some people, do not really collect works here. There are very few expatriate collectors based on my experience as a gallery operator.

every stakeholder in the Nigerian art. Art history has not fully brought the enlightenment that can stir enough zeal for this. Most of the good collectors as I said are Nigerians.

I trained as an accountant at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Business School, Enugu Campus. I later had a stint in banking after which I left to run a business, which many people would keep their distance from. I decided to venture into the elitist business of art, curatorial services and promotion. It was this that eventually gave birth to Pendulum Art Gallery. What moved me into the gallery business has been my love and flair for the arts. Right from my childhood, I have always appreciated human talents.

Growing up

I lived around art collectors and artists. So in the quest for trying to leave a legacy I looked

around and found out that gallery business was one of the sure business areas to lead one to such great ambition in the near future.

Nsukka and Enugu environments had great influence on my thought. As a young boy, I had encountered a number of monuments and artists around the city of Enugu and Nsukka. The creative recollections of artists that found expressions in such important monuments like the sculptural works depicting the coal workers strike in Enugu and the popular Opara Square and several other important gardens are vivid memory for me.

Also, the imaginative compositions of the School of Communication Arts of the Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu and the presence of the AKA Group of Artists that have such names like Nsikak Essien, Chris

Afuba to mention but a few, and the seminal creativity of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka Art School that parades the works of important artists like the painter, Obiora Udechukwu, Chike Aniakor, El Anatsui, Uche Okeke and Ben Enwonwu goes to a great length in

Setting up Pendulum gallery

From day one of setting up the gallery, I realized that I tread on a dangerous turf. But my training in the business school came handy. My business philosophy is that 'it is wise to know that there is no easy business.' This attitude to business is reflected even in the name of our gallery, Pendulum, which in the physical science sense, means movement in time, mass and gravity. Also, the name pendulum is

chosen because art is all about time. So, to associate the name with art reflects the dynamics that is associated with it.

Like artists, Pendulum oscillates front and back to determine direction and change. For me, what amounts to lucrative business today may shift ground for a poorly rated activity or business in future.

Beginning from 2004, Pendulum Art Gallery started offering creative residency to young visual artists every year. The residency has been designed as a stepping stone for young artists seeking new challenges in the areas of painting and sculpture. The goal of the programme is to encourage greater cooperation among artists in the continent. The resident artist will be required to interact with local artists and children, have the opportunity of a broadened vision while also sharing experience with the audience.