Adenrele Sonariwo is no stranger to firsts. After opening the doors to Rele Gallery’s Lagos location in 2015, it gradually became the city’s foremost destination for contemporary art. Two years later, she served as the co-curator for Nigeria’s first appearance at the prestigious Venice Biennale. But this first is different — it’s been years in the making.
' Los Angeles gallery location on Melrose Avenue' - Image Courtesy of Rele Gallery
“I had wanted an international location the first year after I started the gallery in Lagos,” Sonariwo says casually, revealing just how foreign she finds the concept of luxuriating in success. “I was just very convinced about the move. We were well-prepared for it.”
On February 1 and on its six-year anniversary, Rele Gallery planted its feet in Los Angeles. With a palpable time-difference, LA is usually further down the priority list for Nigerian brands on their quest for global expansion. However, when Sonariwo visited the West Coast city, she fell in love with its calm pace and especially curious art community. To her, LA presented an opportunity — an established art capital without a dedicated physical space for contemporary African art. After mulling it over with her team, the former accountant decided it was time to make a calculated risk.
Between strategy meetings, transatlantic flights and managing vendors, the only notes in Sonariwo’s planner are booked and busy. When we finally get around to catching up over Zoom, it’s midday and exactly one week since she welcomed patrons into the new Melrose Avenue space. Running a tight ship, she has spent the past few weeks camped out in LA, preparing to open Rele’s first international outpost in the middle of a pandemic. Currently, the gallery is operating strictly by appointment and restricting access to one group every twenty minutes. While this has meant foregoing some of the buzz that accompanies a splashy launch, the Lagos-based entrepreneur is anything but dismayed. “In Lagos, it took us a while for people to really understand what we were doing and to get with it,” she says. “I’ve always believed in consistency. For me, it’s like we will establish, people will know we’re there and we’ll do it by appointment.”
The gallery will indeed be hard to miss. Neighbouring one of the most Instagrammed walls in LA, it is gratifying to witness African artists occupy such prime real estate in a Western market. Although landing on Melrose was by chance, growing internationally has come with managing preconceived notions of what a gallery from Nigeria should be willing to accept. During the hunt for a location, Sonariwo had to reset expectations after agents concerned about budget, showed her a few spaces that were off-brand. “The same sort of excellence that I push for in Lagos is the same sort of excellence that I need to be reflected here,” she says. “We wanted an intimate space, a space that wasn’t too overwhelming when you walked in but that gave us enough room to present the artist’s work.” From signage details to striking high walls, Sonariwo’s immense respect for the work of African artists is baked into every detail of the Rele LA experience.
“We wanted an intimate space, a space that wasn’t too overwhelming when you walked in but that gave us enough room to present the artist’s work.”
The gallery’s first exhibition is titled Orita Meta – Crossroads and will be running through the end of March. Orita Meta, Yoruba for a junction where three roads meet, explores themes of gender and femininity through the brushes of three equally gifted but entirely unique artists. Among the Yoruba, junctions can double as portals, where through offerings of food and sacrifice, mere mortals are able to communicate with the spiritual realm. Converging at Rele’s Orita Meta, Marcellina Akpojotor, Chidinma Nnoli and Tonia Nneji practice their chosen sacred arts. “I feel great to have my works exhibited with that of two artists that I admire and respect a lot, Nneji tells me. “Different narratives and approach but a secure and strong theme that centres around women.”
Like most decisions Sonariwo makes, centring Nigerian women in the gallery’s international debut was intentional. “It presented an opportunity to make a statement,” she confesses. “There is an under representation of female artists globally and that is not to say that we don’t have them.” Orita Meta is also a nod to the book and painting by renowned Nigerian artist Peju Alatise. “This was like the definition of an African woman to me. Just seeing people that I grew up around, whether it’s a mother or an aunty. Their curves, their body rolls, their scars and all that. Seeing that represented in a painting,” recalls Sonariwo, detailing how the imposing large-scale piece arrested her upon viewing it at a private collection.
Having come of age during this cultural renaissance, Rele is well-positioned to serve as a platform for young Africans with a message to the world. “I believe that the fact that the gallery is able to convey first-hand knowledge of the artists is important to collectors,” Aziza Balogun, curator and former head of partnerships at Rele, says. “Stories are best told by people who live them.”
'Tonia Nneji, I Want to Tell You a Story, 2020' - Photo by Ian Byers-Gamber, Image Courtesy of Rele Gallery
'Marcellina Akpojotor, Rhythm of Evolving Story (Conversation Series), 2020,' - Photo by Ian Byers-Gamber, Image Courtesy of Rele Gallery
But as with most trends, without a concerted effort, appreciation hardly permeates the zeitgeist beyond playlists and mood boards. From afar, Rele anticipated a keener sense of familiarity with the African art scene than what it’s come up against abroad. For some, contemporary African Art is still a paradox. “We’re having to explain or educate,” Sonariwo remarks, sounding eager to take on the responsibility. The presence of Rele Los Angeles physically challenges a myopic imagination of African art, one that confines expression within the borders of historical artefacts and acacia trees resting in orange sunsets. “A lot of patrons and collectors were surprised that the gallery was purely located in Lagos and that the artists on view were all African,” Balogun further explains over email. “A lot of people wondered how the gallery ‘made it' to the fairs.”
Viewing art as a gateway to conversations that demystify, educate and connect, Sonariwo embraces Rele’s responsibility to provide what she calls “an intimate encounter for people that are curious about African art.” She’s discovered that interactions in LA in particular, have been less about making a sale and more about discussing stories that inspire an artist’s work. This was the case at the 2020 LA Art Show, where Rele’s booth displayed African artists on the same stage as their peers from across the world. One of these artists was Orita Meta’s Akpojotor, who makes use of Ankara fabric to produce textured imagery. Her hybrid of painting and collage drew attention and sparked discussions with attendees about Nigeria’s celebratory culture and aso ebi. “I let my exhibitions run for as long as they do because it also gives the audience more time to really come and connect with the work,” says Sonariwo. “It spaces like ours and the ones coming after us that will continue to do the work in showing that there’s a bit more that connects us.”
Despite Africa’s current cool factor in the States, this newfound fascination is playing catch-up with deeply ingrained misconceptions, particularly among an old guard that tends to associate African artists with a lack of sophistication. As a result, the label “African” is saddled with a cost that some artists aren’t willing to bear or feel undeservedly restricted by. “Ultimately, I leave it to the artist to say how they want to be defined, whether you want to be considered ‘an artist from Africa’ or you want to be an ‘African artist.’ It’s an identity thing and everybody chooses,” says Sonariwo. When it comes to Rele’s founder and director, weighing the pros and cons of the “African” label simply is not an option, it just is what it is. “I’m proud to be African, I’m proud to be Nigerian. For me, it’s not a question at all,” she chuckles. “Everything I do is reflective of that.”
'Lagos gallery location in Onikan, Lagos Island' - Image Courtesy of Rele Gallery
In line with this mindset, the gallery will be rolling out programming in LA that showcases artists from across the continent. Sonariwo is committed to championing stories that connect Africa’s shared history while still celebrating its diversity. “It is effortless for me to go to Nigeria and other African countries, find connections and enjoy it with a passion. It is who I am,” she says. “We don’t really travel much within each other’s countries — that’s something that I’m doing and plan to do more of.” Speaking to the continent’s wealth of diversity, patrons that walk into Rele’s space are encouraged to distinguish where on the continent artists are from, making for a much richer learning experience than is typically afforded to African work in Western spaces.
Sonariwo, whose father once held the title of Akarigbo of Remo (the traditional ruler of 33 towns in Nigeria's Ogun state), credits some of her passion for cultivating homegrown talent to having witnessed art in motion from an early age. “There was a lot of culture, festivals, colours and all things vibrant and bold,” she says. “I think about the kind of eye I have now in being able to see an artist and spot the potential and help guide them. I don’t think it came by chance. We’re all products of our experiences and our pasts.”
These days, while the former consultant to the Ogun State governor on culture and tourism is exporting African art, she is also closely observing plans to repatriate artefacts stolen from the continent. She has high hopes for the team behind the recently announced Edo Museum of West African Art located in Benin City, home to one of the most prominent art raids in colonial history. The highly anticipated museum is being designed by David Adjaye and located a short distance from the current Oba’s palace. “I know they have a great team of experts that are working on the project,” she says. “They understand the culture, they understand the heritage, they’ve done the research. The entire project is in very capable hands.”
Sonariwo says she doesn’t care to be recognized and I believe her. Within minutes of speaking, it is glaringly obvious that she is happiest letting Rele’s artists claim the spotlight. “The only reason I have social media is because of what I do. Left to me, I would be hiding somewhere just observing,” she jokes. The longer we speak, the more I realize that this interview is only continuing because she’s genuinely enjoying the conversation. We laugh about her ducking award shows and extensive media rounds but beneath the laughter is something different than shyness, she simply isn’t driven by external validation. As if being haunted by a flashback from one of the PR pitches she receives from her publicist, she adds, “I am aware that I need to do some of that because it presents opportunities for my artists.”
“I’m proud to be African, I’m proud to be Nigerian. For me, it’s not a question at all. Everything I do is reflective of that.”
There are no victory laps in Sonariwo’s world. As we speak, she lets it slip that she’s headed for Lagos in a few days to prep an exhibition and plan more LA programming. The 30-something-year-old’s life philosophy is to see opportunities instead of challenges and so far, it’s worked. “I think that’s the reason people think things come easy to me,” she expresses worriedly, responding to my questions about obstacles encountered during Rele’s early days. “There were a lot of perception issues, people not trusting.” she later admits, alluding to Nigeria’s unfortunate “419” stereotype. “We’ve come a long way in terms of fighting that stereotype and just pushing and people trusting us to be able to pay us even before they get their work.”
'Chidinma Nnoli, A Poetry of Discarded Feelings / Things (III), 2020,' - Photo by Ian Byers-Gamber, Image Courtesy of Rele Gallery
On surface level, Rele might appear to have been derived from an abbreviation of its founder’s name but upon closer inspection, the spirit of the gallery is embodied in the word’s Yoruba meaning — to come home. When Sonariwo first dreamt of her Lagos Island location, she pictured a space where artists felt at home and part of a larger family. As Rele’s family sprawls across oceans, the art dealer is eager to gift a slice of home to the rest of the world. “For me these pieces are beautiful, they’re remarkable, they’re worth paying attention to. And that perspective is what I was really interested in sharing with this sort of global audience,” she states.
For Rele Gallery, the mission is that clear-cut; to act as a vessel, situating contemporary African voices in bolder and broader contexts. “I personally am very fulfilled knowing that we’ve helped contribute to a lot of artists’ careers, I’m very very satisfied by that.” Sonariwo expresses earnestly. “Whatever else the world has for us to take…we will take it.”