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Yinka Shonibare CBE mines the past to speak of the present. In Earth Kids, Shonibare makes a connection between the history of colonial domination and humankind’s domination of the natural world and exploitation of its limited resources. The quartet of child-scaled sculptures champion the next generation of environmentalists fighting for climate justice—including young activists, such as Greta Thunberg—who have thrown a spotlight on the failings of previous generations of policy makers. These works, Shonibare states, are a call to action to protect the planet for our children.
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Rachel Kent, Chief Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, writes that Yinka Shonibare engages with “history and its legacy for future generations, of how we live in the present, and of cycles or patterns that repeat across time despite their often destructive consequences. In this way he pricks the consciences of those who encounter his art, using beauty and seduction instead of words as his chosen weapons.”
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"These sculptures are made of African textiles known as batik. The batiks are Indonesian-influenced fabrics produced by the Dutch and then sold to the West African market. The fabrics are now popularly seen as african textiles and the fabrics are now also made within the african continent. The most important thing I do with the fabric is that I then make Victorian costumes out of it. I link history to the present. The high point of the colonial period in Africa is the Victorian era. That is why those kids are wearing Victorian costumes."
- Yinka Shonibare CBE
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"I like contradiction and ambivalence in my work. The children are neither black nor white. They are somewhere in between, so there's a kind of clash of cultures in my sculpture. Rather than focusing specifically on the children’s race, I swap their heads for the globe. The globes themselves show the way that the planet is actually warming."
-Yinka Shonibare CBE
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"I use kids in a lot of my works because I see children as a symbol of hope and a symbol of hope for the future particularly when we're talking about the planet. Many of us have enjoyed the wealth created by industrialization, but in a sense we've had our time and we do need to start looking to the future and we need to start looking at how we are going to leave the children a better planet."
-Yinka Shonibare CBE
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ABOUT THE ARTIST
Yinka Shonibare CBE RA (born 1962 in London, UK) is a member of the ‘Young British Artists’ generation who first came to prominence in the late 1990s. His works have been featured in Documenta11 (2002) and the 52nd Venice Biennale (2007). Shonibare’s major public commission Wind Sculpture (SG) V is currently installed in the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston. Since 2013, Shonibare has created monumental public sculptures that freeze the elemental power of the wind in a moment of time. These abstract sculptures take the form of billowing fabric; their sail-like form is a “metaphor for the natural movement of people: migration.”
In the past two years, Shonibare has been the subject of solo exhibitions at institutions including M WOODS, Beijing, China; Arts House, Singapore; Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan; Driehaus Museum, Chicago, IL; Norval Foundation, Cape Town, SA; Hereford Cathedral, Herefordshire, UK; and Davidson College, Davidson, NC. Shonibare’s The British Library was recently acquired by the Tate London, where it remains on long term display. His works are included in notable collections internationally, including the Tate Collection, London; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C; Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome; Pérez Art Museum Miami, FL and VandenBroek Foundation, The Netherlands.
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Art for Lunch: A Conversation with Yinka Shonibare CBE
Friday, January 15 at 1 PM ESTJoin Jim Cohan and Yinka Shonibare CBE for a lunchtime conversation on Friday, January 15 at 1 PM EST. They will delve into Shonibare's multidisciplinary practice and the processes and inspirations behind Earth Kids, his latest exhibition at James Cohan, on view from December 4 through January 23.
Learn More
Yinka Shonibare CBE: Earth Kids: Gallery Exhibition at 291 Grand St
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