ARTSPLIT, the pioneering art trading platform for African art, has kicked-off the maiden edition of a MOCONA (Modern and Contemporary Nigerian Arts) Auction for two weeks from 15 to 31 July, 2022.
This first-of-its-kind auction, titled Ode to Mastery, will feature five prominent Nigerian artists who are key drivers of the contemporary art scene on the continent: Abiodun Olaku, Duke Asidere, Edosa Ogiguo, El-Dragg Okwoju and Oliver Enwonwu.
The MOCONA auction will be a split auction, followed by a lease auction of individual works from the five artists. The works will also be available for physical viewing at Hourglass Gallery – 979 Saka Jojo St, Victoria Island 106104, Lagos for the duration of the auction.
The ARTSPLIT app allows users to own fractions of prominent African artworks, also known as “Splits,” and keep or trade them on the app if they win the “Split Auction.” The Splits allow multiple people to co-own a single iconic piece of art, which no other art platform allows. Users can also participate in a ‘Lease Auction’ on the app to win physical custody of these split artworks for a set period.
The MOCONA auction follows a successful inaugural auction held in May, where Ben Enwonwu’s 1977 artwork ‘Agbogho Mmuo’ from the Ogolo series was valued at $105,000, as well as ARTSPLIT’s debut at the 59th Venice Biennale, where the platform partnered with The African Art in Venice Forum (AAVF) and the South African pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022.
The complete list of works available at the auction and links to buy splits are as follows: Abiodun Olaku, ‘The Seeker’ (Portrait of a beggar), 1994; El-Dragg Okwoju, Euphoria, 2022; Duke Asidere, The Death of Honour, 2022; Edosa Ogiugo, Market Day in Dalston, London, 2017; and Oliver Enwonwu, Rite of Passage, 2022.
By presenting MOCONA, ARTSPLIT intends to raise the profile of these artists further and introduce them to a new set of diverse art collectors and investors, which would ultimately boost the status of both their works and the platform. Indeed, this is the new ART ECONOMY!
