Long road from banking, MBA to fine art
Adrian Nduma. From Left: His colourful abstract expressionist acrylic on canvas painting titled Arise and Shine goes for Sh1.8m. Explosion of colour titled ‘Colourful Spirit Most Engaging’ going for Sh1m. Photo/Marta Obiegla
By MARGARETTA WA GACHERU
Posted Thursday, May 10 2012 at 17:48
Posted Thursday, May 10 2012 at 17:48
In Summary
Adrian Nduma
Age: 38
Age: 38
- Opened Bronzo Art Gallery in 2005
- Graduated in 1997 with a Bachelor of Education in Fine Arts degree from Kenyatta University.
- Currently exhibiting at the national museum until the end of May
- His paintings cost between Sh120,000 and Sh1.4 million
- Sold one of his painting at Sh2.1 million early 2012
This year begun on a high note for Adrian Nduma, 38, when he sold one of his paintings for Sh2.1 million.
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Following the sale and appearing in one of the local TV stations his phone, along with art dealer William Ndwiga, who he has worked with, has been ringing off the hook from parents curious about the life of an artist.
“Kenyans must begin to see African art in terms of investments,” said Nduma in an interview at the Nairobi National Museum, where his exhibition is currently ongoing.
“People need to see how buying a work of art is comparable to buying shares of a company listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange.”
Nduma, in an interview by phone, said that the phone continued to ring of the hook during the interview at the station with inquiries on how to make a successful career as an artist.
“Parents who had never thought of their children pursuing an art career woke up to that prospect after hearing how Adrian made Sh2 million from a single artwork.”
Nduma says upon his graduation he did not feel compelled to paint full time for several years and first tried his hand in teaching, then two years in advertising before moving to banking.
He joined the Commercial Bank of Africa, in 2000, working first at the American Embassy branch the ILRI branch in Kabete.
It was during his years at banking that he learnt more about running a business and investments.
“It wasn’t so much that I wanted to learn about making money. I wanted to understand it more than anything,” said Nduma who believes most people in Nairobi are in business of some kind.
He opted to pursue an MBA at the University of Nairobi, he did all the course work but never completed the final project, because he felt “called to start my career in fine arts, he said.
While still at the bank, he says, he painted every evening and managed to have private showings at his studio, on Ngong Road.
After walking out of his MBA and banking job, in 2005, he opened Bonzo Art Gallery, at Casablanca Restaurant, in Kilimani, and started painting full time.
Nduma has been applying all that he learned both inside and outside of school to his art. He prefers not to be called “a businessman” since he doesn’t want to be “pigeon-holed” or limited in any way. “I have never followed the cue,” says Nduma, who rarely holds art exhibitions in the Nairobi galleries.
He insists its a myth that Kenyans don’t have money to buy art, adding, that hat men will go to bars or restaurants with friends and spend tens or even hundreds of thousands of shillings at one sitting. Yet these are the people who claim they don’t have funds to buy African art.
Kenyans have disposable money to spend, but many do not appreciate art, yet, as an investment. They don’t understand that a painting bought for 100,000 shillings today can be worth much more, even double, in a few years,” he said.
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But he also feels Kenyan artists need to be more innovative in marketing their work. They need not rely on the galleries or art centres to promote their art. “They haven’t done a very good job of it up to now, so it’s up to the artists themselves.”
Nduma is confident that as Kenyans become more informed on African art and come to appreciate the incredible investment potential available by purchasing a painting or sculpture they will start investing in art, not just for its beauty but for its profit-making potential.
Currently, he is exhibiting his work at the Nairobi National Museum, until the end of May. Most cost less than the one he sold earlier in the year with the price ranging between Sh120,000 and Sh1.4 million.
He is interested in, apart from painting abstract art that veritably explodes in radiant, shimmering colours on canvas, growing the art industry in Kenya.
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