Exhibition Poster
This poster is produced on the occasion of Yinka Shonibare CBE: Suspended States at Serpentine. It features African Bird Magic (Mauritius Fody & Comoro Blue Vanga). The African Bird Magic quilt series features endangered birds including the Mauritius Fody and Comoro Blue Vanga. An African mask hovers over the birds, symbolising ancestors who were once custodians of the birds’ habitats before colonialism and industrialisation endangered many species. The quilt series also highlights the historical journey of African masks to the West, often tied to colonial exploitation and trade, which influenced modernist artists like Henri Matisse (1869-1954), Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and Amadeo Modigliani (1884-1920).
Shonibare celebrates these masks, explaining ‘they become symbols of African empowerment to challenge the consequences of Western colonial industrialisation in the degradation of the African environment.’ These works also serve as a warning, reflecting on the consequences of industrialisation and its subsequent ecological impact, and reminding us of the species that may yet become extinct if we do not take care of our environment.
Artist
Yinka Shonibare CBE
Yinka Shonibare CBE RA (b. 1962, London, United Kingdom) has an interdisciplinary practice which uses Western art history and literature to question the validity of contemporary cultural and national identities within the context of globalisation. As a celebrated British-Nigerian artist working between London and Lagos, Shonibare was awarded the honour of ‘Commander of the Order of the British Empire’ in 2019. In 2004, he was nominated for the Turner Prize and in 2008 and in 2010, his first public art commission, Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle, was displayed on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, London. The Tetley commissioned Shonibare’s Hibiscus Rising, a major public memorial in Leeds for David Oluwale, which opened in November 2023. In November 2022, Shonibare launched Guest Artists Space (G. A. S.) Foundation, a non-profit based in Nigeria dedicated to facilitating cultural exchange through residencies, public programmes, and exhibition opportunities. Shonibare’s works are in notable museum collections both local and international, including the Tate Collection, London; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C; and the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
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