In this blog I would like to talk about Yinka Shonibare and I will talk about his life and his works. Before starting to talked about his whole career, I have also watched his career video on Youtube from Bloomberg Chanel. So let's begin, he is known as for his examination of such ideas as authenticity, identity, colonialism, and power relations in often-ironic drawings, paintings, sculptures, photographs, films, and installations about Nigerian heritage.
Yinka Shonibare was born in London, England in 10th of February in 1962. Shonibare was born to wealthy Nigerian parents living in London. When he was about three years old, his family returned to Nigeria, and he grew up in Lagos( Lagos is the capital city of Nigeria) while continuing to summer in England. Although his parents were disappointed with his chosen career, he was allowed to return to England to attend art school. Just weeks after his classes began, Shonibare came down with transverse myelitis, a disorder caused by inflammation of the spinal cord.
The illness resulted in a long-term physical disability where one side of his body was paralyzed. After being hospitalized for a year, Shonibare entered Byam Shaw School of Art from 1984 to 1989 and he is now part of Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design. He received an M.F.A. degree from Goldsmiths’ College but now its called Goldsmiths, University of London.
Here is some of his works;
Nelsons ship in a bottle, this is his most famous works that he made. This Nelsons ship in a bottle is in Trafalgar Square. This ship is in Trafalgar Square because HMS “Victory”, in which he died during the battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805.
So the pattern of the sails were inspired by Indonesian batik, mas-produced by Dutch traders and sold in West Africa. In this modern life these designs are associated with African dress and identity. The characteristic bright colours and abstract symmetries of Dutch Wax fabric.
In addition, Shonibare was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2004 for this sculpture ship and in the same year in which he was awarded an MBE .He has exhibited at the Venice Biennial and internationally at leading museums. In autumn 2008, a major retrospective of the artist’s career to date opened at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, touring to Brooklyn Museum, New York and the Smithsonian Institution, Washington.
He is also making figure sculptures with African dress design;
So that I will talk about is “Cheeky Little Astronomer, 2013”. Yinka Shonibare include multiculturalism in his work, he combines different references in this playful sculpture. This sculpture representing to us the western classicism and as we can see the globe head represents cultural exchange.
Shonibare has made several works with figures with globes for heads. The figure reflecting the standing poses of classical sculpture. In addition he also said that he creates this juxtaposition because classical sculpture is iconic in Western high culture whereas the globe is universal.
To talk about the clothes the figure wears are made from batik fabric, Shonibare used brightly coloured patterns and these patterns are created from dying the fabric with a wax-resit. The wax-resit is a method of using wax to mask parts of a work, such as cloth or pottery, when applying a coating or treatment; the resist method, using wax. Many of his patterns have symbolic meanings. These fabric is traditionally made in Indonesia however it produced in Netherlands and sold in West Africa. I really like this sculpture bacuse it has lots of symbolic meanings and I guess he became famous for these important details he is adding to his all works.
Lastly he is always symbolises one culture hidden, multicultural history. This represents his belief that cultural identity . He explores the relationship between Africa and Europe and the boundaries between the two.
References:
Nelson's ship in a Bottle (no date) Royal Museums Greenwich. Available at: https://www.rmg.co.uk/national-maritime-museum/attractions/nelsons-ship-bottle (Accessed: April 23, 2023).
Yinka Shonibare (no date) Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yinka-Shonibare (Accessed: April 23, 2023).
Cheeky little astronomer: Works of art: Ra collection: Royal Academy of Arts (no date) Cheeky Little Astronomer | Works of Art | RA Collection | Royal Academy of Arts. Available at: https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/work-of-art/cheeky-little-astronomer (Accessed: April 23, 2023).
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