Category: Arts & Life

Ugoma Ebilah is the owner and director of Bloom Art Gallery, Lagos. Bloom is one of the most celebrated and booming private art galleries in Nigeria. A trained banker, she has chosen to delve into the business of art with an unprecedented passion and commitment. She is not just a collector, she is also a promoter, patron and outstanding curator of art pieces of all kinds, especially wood works and sculptures. In this chat with Edozie Udeze, she shares her love for art and how it has come to dominate her life.

UGOMA Ebilah is a consummate art lover, collector and promoter. She runs the Bloom Art Gallery in Lagos. Her gallery has an array of art works that portray some of the best and most celebrated artists in the land. But more than that, her passion for sculpted works is almost legendary. But most interestingly, Ugoma studied Banking and Finance, yet her love for visual arts has come to dominate her entrepreneurial spirit. “However, my love and interest for the art, I’d say was divine”, she said as she began to respond to a chat with The Nation.

“At the time I decided to open my gallery… Interestingly, I’d say I had no business with art. But here we are, here is Bloom. Yes I studied, the business, I self-studied the art; I was curious, very curious indeed. It was that curiosity that drove me on to study more; to know more about the visual, the art generally. My interest came more due to the places I lived and studied. These were between London and Lagos and so on. Lagos has been a very interesting place for the art, for creativity generally. My father was a creative person, so also my elder sister who is an architect and a designer. So I was gradually developing interest in the art without knowing it. Even when I finished my education and went into a career in financing I was not happy.

“Indeed, I was not fulfilled. Therefore at a point, I did a U-turn. And that U-turn happened about 20 years ago. I am really grateful that I was able to decide my own calling. It was for me a turning point. I think I was able to bring my commercial and organizational learning into the business of art. That is what has made the whole difference for me. What we have been able to do, me and my colleagues, is to organize this place a bit more elevated in terms of the type of business of the art that we are involved in. This has helped us to give serious means of livelihood, real respect to the artist. It has also offered us the opportunity to attract real humility and respect on the collector’s side so that the relationship has since remained a harmonious one.

“Yes, this is so, because the collector needs awareness. She needs education, more exposure to understand how this relationship works and how it helps all the people involved in the business of art and art collection. The artist has to be put within the context to see how this works. It is a symbiotic relationship, with respect and humility anchored on understanding between the artist and the collector. And so I have been very passionate about making that gap smaller in the cause of my work. I may say that I am still a baby collector. In the last 20 years that I have been collecting art works, I recently discovered that I have collected over 200 pieces. So I have collected almost as much as I have shown. And there is hardly any artist I have come across that I have not taken one or two pieces of his works either to my home or to the gallery.

“It is indeed the beginning of my life with Boma Joe-Jim. I met Joe-Jim as an artist through his works. I met him in his works long before I met him in person. And that is the power of art, yes. And that also is the power of the work of our hands. It is said that the work of our hands will make a space for us. That is what the works of Joe-Jim did for me before I actually met him in person. That is the case of the Nigerian artist, especially. Their works can always speak for them in far and near places”.

But how come, Ugoma has more love and preferences for wood works, sculpted pieces, more or less. Her response is poignant and symbolic. She said “I am a contradiction. Yes, I love sculpted works so much. And I also love drawings. I like the hard materials which sculpted works represent. Also drawings on paper; they look so delicate. That is the major reason I love them, so fragile.  But these two types of the visual are so opposite of each other. And maybe that is why I love them so passionately. The origin of any work of art starts with an idea or impression on paper. So I really love both and for me things I love I really love. I don’t really have a middle ground. When I love something I really love, yes, with all my heart. And I do all I can to make others love what I love. That indeed is where Bloom comes in. People here share almost the same ideas and ideals as I do. When that happens, it makes the work easier; the level of appreciation becomes more remarkable and the work goes on smoother”.

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At this stage in her life, Ugoma has truly turned into a profound expert in the business of art. Her expertise and appreciation of all pieces of art materials has reached a point of crescendo. She discusses art not just as a collector but as a critique, promoter and encourager. She went on, “What I do is wonderful. My love for the art which is infectious has made more people to also agree with me when a work is truly wonderful. This does not happen once but consistently. And that is how collections ought to be. You need to continuously and consistently follow an artist and his works to be able to master all these overtime. Hopefully this graduates into patronage, into paying more attention to an artist’s works and pedigree”.

Ugoma’s love for metal works is somewhat lukewarm. “To be honest my love for metal works is the least. This is so because I think they just scare me. The few metal works I have here are expressed in minimal sizes and forms. They do not have the intimidation of typical metal works. I love the works of Ndidi Dike. I love her works even though she has risen to be a museum favourite. I visit her studio once in a while. But like I said, her works are now for big museums. In the absence of the formal museums which government has refused to open due to reasons best known to them,  I think the patrons of art and art collectors need to come together to make our galleries art museums and centres. Our homes must be the museums. We must share and display the works because no one can see them anywhere else if we do not”.

Ugoma smells good art pieces from afar. She has come to feel some blend of art as her second nature. She loves to exhibit works of total effusive values often surrounded by flowers and deep interior decorations. For her art speaks and commands attention. “And when some of our heritages are in homes, the owners of the homes owe it to the public to open the homes for the public to view and appreciate”. Even though she doesn’t go so much into ulli symbols and representations, she made references to the works of the great artist professor Obiora Udechukwu and others. But then she agreed that the ulli represents the inner concepts of the art in the Igbo spirituality. “Culture has to transcend for us to define it to suit our times. But the most important thing is that we look at those things as ours. Yes, it is Igbo but it is for us all from time past. It is a Nigerian idea; it is not foreign. Therefore it is the role of education to spread it so it does not go extinct”.

She finally came to pay attention to the work of Boma Joe-Jim who was about open a show in her gallery that period. She said, “I had contact with one of his works which sits rather comfortably in my home. Now, let me give you a joke. There are a few things in my house people have tried to steal and I did not allow them. I had interaction with an elder brother who made attempt to snatch one of those heavy art works in my house. He offered me money and I refused. He offered me all kinds of gifts for that sculpture, still I refused. I loved it, but then I didn’t understand why his obsession about it. And so I decided to find out who the artist was and I asked around and I invited the artist over to discuss his work. I also studied the video of him at work. I respect him and admire the way he handles the woods”.

She went on, “A person who turns a dead wood or tree into life has to be respected. Boma is that sort of artist. I am happy he allowed me to curate him, agreed to make smaller pieces of art works that are unique and beautiful. That is the Boma Joe-Jim that I have chosen today to showcase in Bloom. He handles woods with dedication and love and care making them come alive, fresh and cute”.