Biodun Olaku is an artist, one of the masters of visual arts in Nigeria. A painter of many years experience, he has some of the best visual pieces in some of the foremost establishments, homes and offices in the country. With his studio at the Universal Studios of Arts, located at Iganmu, Lagos, Olaku has not only helped in nurturing many artists, he has also spent most of his energy and time ensuring that the visual art sector remains sane, decent and vibrant. In this interview with Edozie Udeze, he dwells on the nitty gritty of commissioned works, what it means to the artist, why every artist needs commissioned works once in a while and more.
What is the place of commissioned works in the life of an artist?
I think the issue of commissioned works in the life of an artist is very important. If we look at it from a very fundamental view point, it will be seen as a life saver, especially for a full time art practitioner. At least, it gives you a guarantee of steady income. This is so because essentially it is contractual in nature. You discuss terms and conditions and then you set about the work. When I talk about terms and conditions, we are talking about pursuing the logistics that will be involved, what you will gain at the end of the day, the bargaining power and lots more. There is a time line to it, to the contract itself, sticking to the original agreement between the two of you.
Sometimes, it can’t be helped if there is any differential in the cost. You will have to bear it for it is still part of the job. But if the person is agreeable, you could have a variation. So it is in other professional spaces. For me, I think it is good. Yes. But it is, in my own opinion supposed to supplementary or compliment to what you do in your studio as an artist, producing various works that are original to you in terms of concepts, ideas, creations. And so that in the long run it will not stifle your development in terms of creativity and conceptual ideas.
Before you do this, you go into the concept of your work….?
Yes, I think it is the same thing that will happen to a lawyer before he is asked to engage in a case. You have to have briefs first. Then the person will give you an idea of what he wants to be done for him or her. And you are expected as the autocrat, the technician, to help them interpret that concept. Sometimes, when you feel the demands will run contrary to your professional dictates, you are expected as the authority to advise them on what to do or what to look out for, or the shape the work will take. This is to help moderate what they want or to panel beat it to shape. It is now a merger between your professional work and what the client wants. As an artist you do not want anything to be compromised or the standard lowered.
When the client comes, what are the basic things he begins to look out for, to want to have you and not the other artist to do the work for him?
There could be many things surrounding that. The experience and the exposure of the client you know concerning you and your work must have made him to come looking for you. Some people are old players, some are green horns in the game and they will probably rely on recommendations to come for you. Some with more experience will probably set out to look for you based essentially on those basic knowledge. Then it will help the person to go for the experienced artist to do the work for him. The worth of artist also counts, it counts tremendously in this matter.
If you are basically a painter like you are and someone comes to you for a sculpture work, how do you handle this?
In all honesty, if I have the capability to do it, I would. But it will be risky if you do not have the prerequisite experience or capacity to handle such a project, it will boomerang. The value of the job could be attractive, it could be very big, it could lure an artist. But I think it calls for a deep reflection because at the end of the day you must deliver. That is the most important aspect of it. Yea, you put your reputation on line if you are not able to deliver and also deliver a quality work. Some collect such jobs and then look for capable hands to do it for them. There are few areas in our profession rich in nature that can accommodate the ownership of the job after it is done. For me, personally, if I think I can handle it, but not own it, I can probably not accept. I would only focus on things I can deliver and deliver easily with maximum comfort and without any qualms.
Does the contractual agreement include maintaining the project after it is delivered?
Yes, if it is part of the contract, the artist is meant to do that occasionally. Like I said earlier, the experience and knowledge in our environment is limited concerning the arts. People might not consider it to that extent in the content of the contract saying, look you have to maintain this job for me after it is done and delivered. It should be included that after execution and delivery, this job has to be kept in good shape. There has to be a regular maintenance, proper attention has to be paid to the project because of the vagaries of weather and so on. The climatic conditions may also affect the job after sometime. Therefore, that aspect has to be inserted into the contract and the client has to pay for it also. It is not only to execute and deliver but if the client comes back for that aspect to be renegotiated, the client has to pay for it. Yes, he has to pay for it.
When this is done , how regular could the maintenance be?
It depends on who owns it. For example, you will see most public artworks in Nigeria do not receive proper attention or are not regularly maintained or looked after. The owners of the jobs do not take care of them. Some are done for the government and they are totally neglected. Some of the public owners of these jobs do not really understand the depth of passion involved in the arts, how art works, add value to the beauty of the cities and streets. Government does not have deep knowledge about the concept of the art sector to the economy of the nation. They might not therefore be knowledgeable enough to know that these works need regular attention to keep them healthy and attractive. It has to be within the realm of economic activities in the society. Those who have communication assess to the government, these are some of the things that need to be put across to them.
For you, what are then the aesthetic values of outdoor works?
Aesthetics, as the name connotes is beauty, value, but here in our society, I don’t think that we are at a point yet where we have begun to enjoy or employ the aesthetics. The average person on the street, does he really understand the concept of aesthetics or art values to the environment? If it is not something very tangible or valuable, people do not necessarily value it. People love values, evaluate aesthetics within their immediate economic values and needs. People are yet to understand the relevance of aesthetics. If it is not directly valuable to them, people might not appreciate the value. If we understand the relative values of these things to our being as a people or as a nation, we probably appreciate it more and then invest in it. For now, people are looking for what to eat or do instead of art works or what aesthetics stands for. People are busy talking about what to do to survive, however, art is too fine, too beautiful for it to contribute that range of needs that we often yearn for. Government is grappling with the immediate needs of the people to begin to bother itself with the aesthetics of the arts in the society.
Now government is talking about the diversification of the economy and yet they do not bother to include the art in their plan. This is an industry that can take a lot of weight off the shoulders of government and then create lots of jobs for the youths and for the artist. Whether it is in terms of visual art, literary art, music, performing arts, they have a lot to do to help the economy grow. They can occupy the ever growing population of youth with lucrative jobs and then help to diversify the economy. People like us are specially endowed in this sector, yet government is not investing in infrastructure to make it grow meaningfully well. We need a lot of infrastructure in the sector right now. After the basic things of life, it is the fine things of life that follow. It shows how refined you are as a person, as a human being. So, we still need to have a lot of engagement with government, to let them know that this is what we want. Government might then look in that direction. I mean it is not too expensive to put all the necessary infrastructure in place to grow the sector and let arts contribute their maximum best to the economy. The time to do that is now.
Both Fela and Awolowo statues were demolished by the Lagos State government, reason being that they were sub-standard. What do you think?
Oh, have we confirmed really that it was done based on the basis of the reasons you gave now? Or were they in their own limited knowledge felt that it could be improved on? It might not be necessarily because they were not good; they could be improved on. That could be their reason for the action, maybe. But what has been the outcome so far, unfortunately? The ones that were replaced before a lot of assessments seems to have been done before hand. The assessments were done before they were mounted. For examples, Awolowo, the headless Fela, which they are trying to defend as being worthy of replacement or so. So it is all based on the limitations of what they know.
This is so because in other advanced societies and environments that we have been to, they usually go for the best, the best artist in terms of quality, in terms of the artist who executes the project. Everything quality, good quality has to go into it, for this is an everlasting job for public consumption, for historic purposes. I don’t think public institutions have reached out yet to the best hands available to do or execute some of these important jobs. That is basically an issue in this matter. Until they do, I think the results will be better than what we see, what we have these days.
Have you had an experience in the past where your commissioned work did not meet the expectations of the client?
No I have not had the misfortune of that type, where a client did not like the project I did for him or her. So far, so good. However, if there is an opportunity or a platform for an interaction while the work is in progress, probably a lot of things can still be sorted out. Yes, may be from the client’s point of view to see if you are going in the direction he wants. It can be done to avoid such a regrettable development in the end. You have to satisfy them. Sometimes some people insist they know what they are doing. This may be based on some past experiences or encounters in doing the job, the client would want to guide the artist aright in order to get it right. So, you need to educate them, too, while you go the way you go on the job, which could be a diversion from the over all intent of the patron or client. Some of them….there could be fallout or so. But as long as you are able to convince them there is no problem. Some would say just give it to them as they want to be able to keep your reputation as a professional. So give it to him, hook, line and sinker so as to disallow it to impugn on your reputation. This is so because people only see what you have done and may not know what happened or transpired between you and your client. And you will be judged based on that. So you have to be careful to do the balancing act very well, being able to please the client and not damaging your own reputation, because of the client’s innocent demands or uninformed demands.
Can you then mention some of the monumental commissioned works you have done?
There is one that I did that kept me on site for three years. It had to do with the owner of Orange Drugs. This was in his home, in the home of Sir Tony Ezinna. It was quite major. I spent three years out there to do the job. It indeed took so much of my time, from about 2015 and we finished it in 2018. And I had to raise a formidable team of the younger guys that I trained personally who were graduates also to handle the big job. This was so because I needed to have the best hands for the job, those who understood the rudiments of the job and were able to deliver. It had to be top quality. It comprised of portraiture, huge murals on the walls, on the canvasses. So you can imagine something that kept me on site for three solid years….it was big. But often I have to respect the privacy of the client because some of these jobs are strictly private. Even the images were not shared publicly. It has security implications. It was a major work there. I had also done one in Abuja. That was in 2005 or so in the home of one of the Uba brothers This was at Asokoro area of Abuja. I also did one in the home of the owner of Zenox here in Lagos. But the Uba one is bigger than that of Zenox. One led to the other and so it went. I am not really looking forward to having another yet.
But why?
Even if it was economically rewarding, it was too stressful for me, too time consuming. You know, as I was busy trying to roll my career in other direction…the last one I did served its purpose economically. Yes it did quite alright. Personally, I’d rather push myself in other directions, mostly now that we are trying to improve our status on the global scene of the art. So, we need to face that direction now, that global direction.
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