With the passing of Olaseinde Odimayo, Nigerian art has lost one of its indispensable behind-the-scenes builders, a man who devoted a lifetime to connecting artists with collectors, vision with patronage, and talent with opportunity. Okechukwu Uwaezuoke writes
Who among those gathered last December to celebrate Olaseinde Odimayo’s 75th birthday could have imagined that the occasion would feel, only a few months later, like a farewell?
The gathering brought together collectors, gallery owners, artists, curators, friends and admirers, all paying tribute to a man whose influence on Nigerian art was immense, even if much of his work happened behind the scenes. Odimayo was not an artist. He was one of those indispensable figures without whom artists often struggle to find their audience.
His passing on June 17 closes a chapter that stretches back to a time when there was hardly an art market to speak of in Nigeria.
Artists occupy centre stage. Dealers rarely do. Yet anyone familiar with the evolution of Nigeria’s art ecosystem knows how much it owes to figures like Odimayo. For decades, he moved quietly between studios, galleries and collectors’ homes, introducing people to artists they might otherwise never have encountered and persuading professionals that living with art was worth the investment.
