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Clementia, 2018. Fibreglass sculpture, hand-painted with Batik pattern. -
Clementia, 2018. Fibreglass sculpture, hand-painted with Batik pattern. -
Clementia, 2018. Fibreglass sculpture, hand-painted with Batik pattern. -
Post-Colonial Globe Man, 2018. Fibreglass sculpture, hand-painted with Batik pattern. -
Post-Colonial Globe Man, 2018. Fibreglass sculpture, hand-painted with Batik pattern. -
Post-Colonial Globe Man, 2018. Fibreglass sculpture, hand-painted with Batik pattern. -
Julio-Claudian, a Marble Torso of Emperor, 2018. Fibreglass sculpture, hand-painted with Batik pattern. -
Julio-Claudian, a Marble Torso of Emperor, 2018. Fibreglass sculpture, hand-painted with Batik pattern. -
Julio-Claudian, a Marble Torso of Emperor, 2018. Fibreglass sculpture, hand-painted with Batik pattern. -
Yinka Shonibare. Image credit: ©Royal Academy of Arts, London; photographer Marcus Leith.
WORDS Michaela Stehr IMAGES courtesy of Goodman Gallery
Ruins Decorated, a series of striking installations by British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare MBE, is currently being exhibited at Goodman Gallery Johannesburg, until 6 October 2018.
The exhibition is his second solo show in Africa, having not exhibited on the continent for 15 years.
Born in London in 1962, Yinka moved to Lagos, Nigeria at age three. He then relocated back to London to study Fine Art. In 2004, he was nominated for the prestigious Turner Prize.
The exhibition consists of sculpture, staged photographs, paintings, installation and film, all of which explore powerful narratives around the struggle for African independence and the rise and fall of western empires.
Detail from Post-Colonial Globe Man. Fibreglass sculpture, hand-painted with Batik pattern.
Portrayed in four parts, each section dissects these themes. “What I do is create a kind of mongrel,” he explains. “In reality, most people’s cultures have evolved out of this mongelisation, but people don’t acknowledge that.”
The exhibition runs until 6 October 2018 at Goodman Gallery, 163 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parkwood, Joburg. The gallery is open Tuesday to Friday from 9:30am to 5:30pm and on Saturdays from 9:30am to 4pm.
See more of Yinka’s work at yinkashonibarembe.com.
