GALLERIES’ OWNERS IN NIGERIA ARE DUBIOUS – IKE GERALD

Gerald, who criticized at the activities of galleries owners in Nigeria, said they are dubious and have tended to depreciate art work in the country. In order to achieve World Peace, the conflicting body or entity has to come together, negotiate and agree. This painter said he used the behavior of colours to co-relate and solves human problems. Like the work of Pisario, Cezanne, Pino, Edgar Degas, and Pablo Picasso inspired me so greatly. Just like Picasso,he said, every work of his is an experiment and a style on its own. For him every art is an invention and every art has to solve a problem.


Before now many see art as a mere artisan other than a profession, but today, Ike Gerald, a contemporary artist, painter per excellent and a graduate of Art and Painting has disputed such notion by revealing how he has been able to fused his art with conflict resolution, also explained some of the salient features of the profession which he described as ‘a language for expressing truth’, in this interview with Mathew Dadiya, he relates the profession with the achievement of the World’s Second Civilization, understood as World Peace. This prolific and versatile painter reveals further that Nigerian artists have great things to do in the quest for positive change hence the need to use their work to enlighten people because every artist he added, has to produce work that makes a statement – “statement for a positive change”, because only great idea can bring about this change. Gerald, who criticized the activities of galleries owners in Nigeria, said they are dubious and defective.

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Many people see art or painting as a mere artisan other than a profession, as a professional artist, how would you balance this notion?

Painting is related to psychology. I have been practicing and trying to fuse my art with conflict resolution. I believe that Art is a sensual language for expressing truth. I don’t believe that Art is just Fine Art- something you can hang on your walls, no! I believe that art has to solve problems. So, I do something with my arts; I do something in human relations. This is visual art, and ordinarily you cannot see colours and eat it or rub it on your body; no, you don’t do that! You enjoy colours by seeing and appreciating. In that case, painting becomes something exciting when you see the array of colours, you get excited. And if you are very enlighten you would know that the composition of painting is not something that just came all of a sudden, somebody must have studied it and undergone certain trainings and must have put certain part of his psychology into this work of arts; the person has idea and a philosophy behind the work using colours to express that idea or message.

We study it in the higher institutions, so it’s a profession. Hence, one can say that painting has gone beyond the normal artisan and has now becomes an intellectual work. With it, you make great statements, whereby those who are concerned; those who affect the world positively become those who get the interpretations of the very art works. So, painting has now become an apparatus to bring about human development and fostering the world’s peace; painting now became that sensual language for expressing truth.

You said you used your art work to promote conflict resolution and fostering World Peace, how haves you been able to do that?

Like I said, painting to me or art generally, is a universal language, and myself measuring in Painting, make an authority in the painting as every person will think. In this case I have been able to study colours and have excelled. For instance; to get some colour, you have to mix two colours to get some other colours: if you want have purple, you must have to mix red and blue. So, in order to achieve World Peace, the conflicting body or entity has to come together, negotiate and agree. I used the behavior of colours to co-related and solve human problems. Nature so made it that conflicting entity ought to disagree because they want to agree. And in this way, I have also wanted to reconcile arts and science, because of the general misconception that those who are more intelligence go for science while those who are less intelligence go for art. But I stand to dispel this misconception because both art and science work together for the good of man. People tend to restrict art to Fine Art – something you can just see and enjoy “visual art” but it goes beyond that. It is related to human behavior. Science also concern itself to some extend to human behavior, these are two ways that nature affect humans.


What drives your motive into the Art and Painting Profession?

It’s nature. Whole of nature: beauty, beauty of the mind, perception and the world. I love the world, I love human beings, I love colours, and I love nature in totality. I can say beauty and humans are my greatest driving force. I like studying human beings, people and beauty. Humans are beautiful, I see human beings as natural figures and this passions for human drives me close to nature and I see cloours in all. I paint human psyche and I paint the body, I paint human environment and everything that concerns humans. I see beauty in all these, that’s my driving force.

Have you ever been carried away by a work of any of your professional colleagues anywhere in the world?

Yes, quite a number of times. They are numerous to mention. I have a lot of colleagues that have affected me in one way or the other and I have also the modern artists whom I admire their works, they are mostly European Artists. And I also have some contemporaries abroad. May be mentioning some few names would do and I would like to start from home. My first encounter is somebody I love so much and he is a genus even though I take him to be a name to be reckoned with; his name is Olufemi Olufitayo, He affected me in terms of painting. I admired the works of Yinka Soyinbare, he is a contemporary artist and he is doing well in United States of America. I also like the works of Onah Kent. Then, I like the work of Claude Monet, he is the father of Impressionism, he is a very popular impressionist and I like all his contemporaries. I like the work of Pisario, Cezanne, Pino, Edgar Degas, and Pablo Picasso. Picasso affected me so much because he writes and that inspires me so greatly. Just like Picasso, every work of mine is an experiment and a style on its own. I have many styles, every piece of my work you see is a style of its own but at the end of the day you can put all these styles together and still call them one style. It all depends with my spectators.

Nigeria has been battling to launder its image through rebranding, how do you think the artists can assist the country in this rebranding?

Just as I am doing, I know most of the vices in this country, I see them everyday. Most times no body understands the artist and sometime the artist may not even understand himself. The Nigerian artists have great things to do in this quest for positive change and I am advising other artists to use their work to enlighten people. Every artist has to produce works that make a statement – statement for a positive change.

They don’t have to live from hand to mouth; you don’t have to reduce art to something you can use to earn a living. Art is a project you need to embark on. Think of an idea and express it in the language that people need to understand the message and that is simply the visual language. Those in power also need to understand the art language. The public have to give art value and not seeing it as just fine art. Also, I am doing my best to publicized art, to shift art from that stigma of just been decorative to a level where it would be seeing as a tool to make global statement. If we start seeing art as a tool, then we will start appreciating it much better and it will gain value which would help it acceptance. Art is one of the best avenues to publicize the country and portray its good image to the outside world. The government has to also give grant to artist as a way of encouraging their work.

How do you market your products?

I don’t sale my arts products. I know you would be surprise to hear this. I donate them to international organizations and there are other people who love my painting so much, I also give to them and they appreciate it most often with reasonable amount of money. I don’t believe that art works have to be sold but they are meant to be enjoyed. Though I sent most of my art works to Europe for exhibition and I do that through courier services. It’s given me big market there and many of my miniatures got sold there but the bigger ones, I donate them as I said earlier. The developed worlds have advanced in appreciating art and they are ready to spend money on arts. They appreciate a lot of African art works. The market is bigger and more organised than the market in developing countries.

We have problems with galleries’ owners here in Nigeria, most time they want to intrude the art profession; they would not want to stop at selling the art works but they always want to tell you what to do for them and they portray themselves as the artists because they don’t want the clients to meet the artists. Their activities are dubious and these tend to depreciate art work in Nigeria and Africa general.

Nigeria marks her 50th Independence Anniversary; the pre-independence artists contributed immensely to the struggle for independence through their art works, do you think the present -day artists have kept that faith in line especially in this democratic era?

Of course they do. Every artist has to make a statement just like the scientists. Every art should be an invention; every art has to solve a problem. In this way, every artist has to produce work to enlighten the public not just to sale. But the greatest mistake any artists will make is to think that he or she will make a living through arts. That does not mean that you can not make a living, you can. But do not think that you are studying art as an occupation to make a living, no! It’s a profession to fight the course of justice. One should know why one is studying art. If you want to study art to make a living good, when you graduate from school that means you have to take art as your occupation, which means you have to learn the ethics of business as well to enable you to make money through your art work. But if you want to study art because you want to make a statement, after graduating from school you would have to decided either to be employed and also channel your salary into your art work or be a businessman and also do your arts work; that will enable you to give your best for the good of your country, but if you are after the money aspect of the art, you won’t think of helping your country.

Have you ever regretted being an artist?

Oh gosh! I don’t think I will ever regret being an artist. I intended to study Law but at the end of the day I found myself studying Art. And while I was a student, I was enjoying money already from the sales of my art work till date. I knew all the good things that had happened to me as an artist and I have found my mind opened and I have been so enlightened beyond my educational attainment, all because of art; I give credit to art. I don’t think I have ever regretted or I will ever regret because it is the decision I made.

Is there any way you think the government can assist in the development of art work in Nigeria?

The government has a lot to do. It has to give priority to proposals which artists tender to ministries, parastatals, and Agencies, and approve them for the good of the country. Couples of those proposals are good and my proposal most time is on organising art workshop for rural and urban kids. I tendered these proposals for government to partner with us also on negotiation and conflicts resolution through art. All these proposals are good but are usually turned down by government. But I think this (media) serves as the avenue to enlighten everyone on the importance of art to national building. After this, I believe that government gestures towards it would be very positive.

How can you rate the acceptability of the art profession in Nigeria to that of the foreign countries?

Every country has its own problems. Nigeria is just 50, but I believe that we are growing up in everything both in appreciating art. But in the developed countries, they appreciate art greatly. My biggest market is Europe because I send my products abroad and they exhibit my art work there even though I am here.



By Mathew Dadiya, saharareporters