Yinka Shonibare is Subtle…
No, bitch…Fuck YOU! How to Blow up Two Heads at Once (Ladies), 2006
Yinka Shonibare just finished up his show “Prospero’s Monsters” at the James Cohan Gallery in New York. Shonibare combines African textiles in non-conventional settings, like in “How to Blow Up Two Ladies At Once” above. Two Ladies compelled me to dig around Shonibare’s catalog.
Yinka Shonibare, Gallantry and Criminal Conversation, 2002.
The photo above is from Shonibare’s 2002 exhibit, Gallantry and Criminal Conversation. While Gallantry is visually provocative and undeniably erotic, Shonibare’s intent was to call attention to the dichotomy of colonialism, as well as it’s insidious nature. Hence, his combination of traditional African fabrics, the 18th century design, and headless copulation.
Yinka Shonibare, Gallantry and the Criminal Conversation, 2002.
A retrospective of Shonibare’s stunning imagery and career will be a featured subject at Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, Australia in the Fall of 2008. The retrospective then heads back to New York for a run at the Brooklyn Museum, sometime in 2009.
Shonibare is a painter, photographer, filmmaker, and installation artist. He lives and works in London.
Related Cherrybombed stories:
