On February 8, Soto gallery announced on their Instagram account their latest exhibition “The Art of Collecting.”
Soto Gallery is one of those galleries in Nigeria known for putting out creative exhibitions and shows, featuring extraordinary artworks that impress. From The Crack, Between Coming and Going, Heavy is the Head and several others, Soto’s choice of exhibition never fails to leave a lasting mark in the life of its audience.
With the continent’s fervent collector base expanding, the Nigerian art scene is increasingly witnessing the significant impact on the global market for modern African art.
This February, from 9th to 20th, 2023, the Gallery will present The Art Of Collecting, an exhibition of rare works by now established contemporary artists from the collections of three longtime collectors. The panel discussion that follows the show will focus on the collectors’ various collecting strategies and the current situation of art collecting from an African perspective. The panel discussion features Jubril Enakele, Grace Oseme, and Lanre Fisher, who will talk through their approaches to collecting, with their selected works on view at the gallery.
According to the gallery, The Art of Collecting is aimed at showing the curatorial marvel that the modern and contemporary art of Nigeria has become. Sales of $3.7 million were made during Sotheby’s fourth dedicated auction of Modern and Contemporary African Art in 2019, above the pre-sale estimate. African collectors dominated the auction, accounting for 70% of all sales in the category, making for a lively turnout.
“We consider the task of platforming African art practitioners inextricably linked with improving public understanding of the wider factors that shape African art practice. Thus, in addition to our exhibitions programme, we’ll be introducing a series of discussions, ‘The Art of Collecting’, which we hope will lend fresh insight into the creation and management of private collections and encourage collection practices among new audiences,” the gallery said.
ABOUT SOTO GALLERY
SOTO Gallery is a contemporary art centre dedicated to sharing diverse African perspectives through art. With an aim to spotlight emerging talents while promoting established artists, the gallery seeks to be a holistic interface between the new and the known, across Africa’s evolving art industry. The origin of SOTO Gallery began with iDesign Art, established in 2018. iDesign Art is an affordable art fair conceived on the premise of fostering a culture of art appreciation from new and emerging Nigerian talents. Through nine successful editions over the years, the gallery has been able to discover and nurture dynamic young talents while impacting on the economic and cultural values of contemporary Nigerian art, with over two hundred artists featured.
