By Henry Akubuiro
The blooming flowers and recycled materials that dot Alexis Galleries can easily woo any passerby in Akin Olugbade Street, Victoria Island, to have a look in. This morning its founder, Patty Chidiac-Mastrogiannis, cuts a statuesque image as she sits in her office at Alexis Galleries. But beyond her elegant appearance is abundant wit, a self thought curator, who has made Alexis Galleries a habitué for artists, collectors and art denizens. Needless to say, expatriates and African gourmets also visit its continental caffe.
Recently, Alexis Galleries had a makeover with a wider space allotted for artworks. “I brought the galleries up to standard, because Nigerian arts needs to be up to standard,” she begins.
Chidiac-Mastrogiannis didn’t envisage she would own a gallery initially. “It was not planned,” she tells Daily Sun. “It happened in an impromptu way. It started as a joke. We had a space at the back, and we painted it white. We hanged a few paintings, because artists were bringing paintings. It happened by accident.”
At first, she was running a furniture shop, and people were bringing artworks to her. “Actually, the artists made this place a gallery. It wasn’t me,” she reiterates.
It wasn’t easy for her when she set out, but she learnt the business along the way. “I have gone through thick and thin in this business,” she says, “stumbled into walls, have had open paths, and all sorts of experiences these twelve years of being in the art industry. I have suffered, and I have learnt the hard way. There was nobody to teach me to avoid this or that.”
What does she consider the highpoint of the Alexis Galleries journey? “It is the success stories of artists like Oluwole Omofemi, Dominique Zinkpe, to name a few. I am also delighted with the success of some artists who didn’t start here but grew here, which is also a focal point. We have left a mark in the art world, which is what I was aiming for, and I got.”
Sustaining a gallery for more than a decade requires gaining the trust of artists, how did she build that confidence? She responds, “By honesty and clarity; in trusting the artists; in trusting their works with us; getting them back to the artists, even after ten years. There was never any mago-mago, as we say in Nigerian parlance,” she laughs. “There was never anything behind the back of the artist.”
Working with Nigerian artists, she has learnt that “artists come from a different planet; they don’t come from earth.” Sounds strange to you? She explains, “But it’s not the case of Nigerian artists alive but generally. They think differently; they see things differently; they have a different perspective. But having said all that, they are beautiful people, because they see beauty in everything, which we don’t unfortunately.”
She is a hybrid personality, and should have been an artist, too. Fifty-something years ago, she was growing up in Kano at a time art wasn’t a trend. She was painting and showing her parents her works, but there was no encouragement from them to be an artist. “So I missed that boat,” she recalls.
She has sold many expensive artworks at Alexis Galleries, but the most expensive artwork sold here belonged to Oluwole Omofemi, whom she calls “my London boy”. She explains the origin of the name. “Before he even went to London, I was calling him the London boy. When he went to the Out of Africa Gallery and did a show and all that, I started calling him the London boy. Now, indeed, he is a London boy. It’s a nickname I have given him, and I think it’s very befitting.
“Oluwole Omofemi is my biggest pride in this industry, because he has really worked hard, and he proved himself by getting to a great height. I wish him a greater height still,” she says. Apart from Omofemi Oluwole, she has seen many artists she has worked with become big names. Some of them include: Raji Babatunde, Stanley Dudu, Afeez Adetunji, Seun Morakinyo and Dominique Zinkwe from Cotonou. “They are all successful people. I can name many more,” she says.
Patty isn’t happy with the way Nigerian artists envy one another. “We have a problem in Nigeria. I don’t know if I will call it envy or jealousy. In this industry, it’s about the survival of the fittest. A lot of artists who didn’t get to the fame of Omofemi are envious of him instead of concentrating on their own art and reaching the centre stage. I see potential in many artists, but I see self bracketing and self destruction. I have spoken out about this.”
Another sad thing about Nigerian artists, from her perspective, is “that they will run for the slightest kobo”. She explains, “They might be selling an artwork for N500,000 in Nigeria, but suddenly sells a work for $3,000 or $5,000, and now take that price as a staple, which destroys them, for actually they don’t get that opportunity for growth.”
Over the years, she has conducted several residency programmes for Nigerian and other artists from several African countries. “I like the fact that they learn from each other, and they grow from each other,” she says. Out of the twelve exhibitions she has had with the resident artists, she has only had one where she experienced conflicts among the artists.
“Otherwise, they have been very peaceful. They have all left with a big smile. I even heard from some of the artists that they were unblocked on getting here, for they were at some point where they couldn’t produce anything, and the residency offered them that freedom to work,” she says.
Part of the reason for her success story is because of her diverse client base. “I have Nigerians, Europeans, Americans and Middle Easterns. My collectors are seasoned. But my biggest collectors are Nigerians who love Nigerian art. A lot of Nigerian collectors do their best to grow the Nigerian artists, as well,” she reveals.
What impresses the foreign collectors most? “Bursting colours and features,” she says. “They like popping paintings. This is where the art world is going at the moment. I think it’s a breath of fresh air, unlike having all the arts before coming out of Auchi or Yabatech painting dark tones, which doesn’t make sense in a country like Nigeria in Africa which is sunny, green and colourful. So I think Nigerian art is now moving into bright, beautiful, colours, which is what we see everyday.”
What does she think of the Nigerian art scene? “It has become contemporary. It’s both good and bad. It’s a good thing, because we are moving. Art is like fashion. But it’s also not good, because we are forgetting our core signature. They are leaving it, because they are looking at what’s going on in the market at the moment and then get influenced by that, forgetting where they left off. But we are booming. When they discuss art today in the world, it is Chinese and Nigerian arts and then the rest falls in.”
She doesn’t condone self marketing for any artist, which is why she says galleries are opened to sell the artists works, and they help to grow the artist. “In the art world, be it performing or visual art, people have agents. If you are an actor, you won’t get a role in a movie unless you have an agent who will take you there and put you in a good role. It is the same for the visual art scene. They need the galleries to put them on a higher pedestal and the right pricing. Selfmarketting is destroying a lot of Nigerian talents.”
What does she do for Nigerian artists? “I nurture them. I grow them. I put them on different platforms. I push my collectors towards them by encouraging them to buy their works. Then I put them on exhibitions and residencies. I put them as a front basically.”
If you aren’t tapping into the art business, she drums it here, “Art is an investment that has a higher return than land.” She recalls buying a work by the legendary El Anatsui for $1,500 in 1998, which she sold a few years ago for $50,000. “Land doesn’t appreciate like that as much. Art is not meant only for the elite; it’s for the smart investor. You can buy a young artist for half a million naira today; in the next ten years whether he has made it or not, his price has appreciated in dollars. You are not going to lose your money. As a matter of fact, you have invested it,” she says.
Many NGOs have benefited from Alexis Galleries over the years, and are still benefitting. “I believe in giving back,” she echoes.” I believe that, if you eat alone, you die alone. I believe there are many organisations that need help, and that’s what we do at Alexis Galleries, together with the artists. We are giving back, and will continue to give back to society.” Right now, she has between 10 and 12 NGOs she donates to.
Wht does she like most about Nigerians? “If you scratch a Nigerian, whether he is a 419er or artistic, you will find a very large heart, which is what makes me love Nigeria.” The first thing she would call her house girl to make for her is Okoro soup with agidi. It’s also her daughter’s favourite food. “I also like edikaikong soup, amala, egusi, vegetable soup and everything that comes out of the Nigerian kitchen,” she adds.
Patty has always counted herself as a Nigerian, though she has Lebanese roots. “It’s not just now. I am African. My parents are African. My father was born in Cotonou and my mother in Nigeria, and my great grandfather was in Cotonou. So I am an African with a white skin. I speak Hausa fluently,” she says with a sunny smile.