Yinka Shonibare
September 8 - November 6, 2004
Yinka Shonibare in collaboration with The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Space Walk(detail), 2002. Fiberglass, silkscreen print on cotton sateen and cotton brocade, and plastic. Installation dimensions variable. Photo: Aaron Igler.
The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) is pleased to present the work of Artist-in-Residence Yinka Shonibare. The exhibition features Space Walk, made in collaboration with the FWM during Shonibare's residency and a selection of past work by the artist including the photographic series Dorian Gray, Scenes 1-12, the large wall painting 100 Years and the sculpture Pedagogy Boy/Boy. The exhibition will be on view September 8, 2004 - November 6, 2004, with an opening reception on Friday, October 1, 2004 from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.. Thelma Golden, Deputy Director for Exhibitions and Programs at The Studio Museum in Harlem, will lecture on Thursday, October 7, 2004, at 6:00 pm with a reception to follow.
Shonibare's interest in culturally-charged juxtaposition has remained a constant thread through his work. Recently short-listed for Britain's prestigious Turner Prize, he is best known for his installations that address cultural identity by juxtaposing seemingly traditional African batik patterned cloth with the styles of 19th century aesthetes and dandies. Through installations, paintings, and photographic series, Shonibare addresses the intersection of identity, cultural symbols and aesthetics.
Yinka Shonibare in collaboration with The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Space Walk(detail), 2002. Fiberglass, silkscreen print on cotton sateen and cotton brocade, and plastic. Installation dimensions variable. Photo: Aaron Igler. | |
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In Space Walk, Shonibare's 2002 collaboration with the FWM, a man and a woman dressed in space suits made of richly colored fabrics float in the gallery. For the fabric's design, Shonibare silk-screened text and photographs from 1970s "Philly Sound" record albums by bands like The Intruders, Three Degrees, The O'Jays and contemporary singer Jill Scott. The fabrics are adorned with the names of famous African Americans, such as James Brown, Billie Holiday, Barry White and David Hammons as well as famous Philadelphia sites from the days of Philly Soul.
Reinterpreting Western art and literature (Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray or Jean-Honore Fragonard's painting The Swing), Shonibare presents jarring and elegant tableaux of mannequins resplendently clothed in colored fabric. These sculptural installations reflect his interest in the long-lasting and pervasive effects of European colonialism. The headless mannequins wear finely detailed Victorian fashions, made not from historically-accurate fabrics, but African kinte cloth. However, the kinte cloth is not what it seems. Through the complex web of colonial-era trade, the wax-printed fabric was actually manufactured in Holland and only later shipped to West Africa, where it was adopted and has now become synonymous with traditional African textiles. In addition to the sculptural tableaux, Shonibare's work includes large-scale photographic projects (such as Dorian Gray) and sculpture (Pedagogy Boy/Boy).
Yinka Shonibare was born and lives in London, England. His recent solo exhibitions include Yinka Shonibare, Double Dutch, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands (2004); Play With Me, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, England (2003); Double Dress, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York (2002, traveling exhibition); Be-Muse, the British School in Rome, Rome, Italy (2001); Affectionate Men, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK (2000) and Dressing Down, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, UK (1999, traveling exhibition). Shonibare's participation in numerous group exhibitions includes Looking Both Ways: Art of the Contemporary African Diaspora, Museum of African Art, Long Island City, Queens, New York (2003); Black President: The Art and Legacy of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (2003); Documenta 11, Kassel, Germany (2002); Spoleto Festival, Charleston, South Carolina (2002); The Short Century, Museum Villa Stuck, Munich, Germany (2001, traveling exhibition); Secret Victorians, The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia (2001) and Sensation, Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York (1999).
The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) is the only museum of its kind, offering internationally renowned artists the resources to create new work in experimental materials. Artists come from all media-including sculpture, installation, video, painting, ceramics, and architecture-and use FWM's facilities and technical expertise to create works of art that they could not create on their own. Research, construction, and fabrication occur on-site in studios that are open to the public, providing visitors with the opportunity to see works of art from conception to completion. FWM's permanent collections include not only complete works of art, but also material research, samples, prototypes, and photography and video of artists making and speaking about their work. Access to the creative process provides visitors with a point of entry into understanding challenging works of contemporary art. FWM offers an unparalleled experience to the most significant artists of our time, students, and the general public.
FWM Exhibitions and Programs Admission: $3 for Adults, Children under 12 and FWM Members for Free. Group tours available by appointment.
Hours: Mon.–Fri. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sat.–Sun., 12 noon to 4 p.m.
The programs of The Fabric Workshop and Museum are supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts; The Judith Rothschild Foundation; Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency; National Endowment for the Arts; Miller-Plummer Foundation; LLWW Foundation; U. S. Institute of Museum and Library Services; Nimoy Foundation; The Arcadia Foundation; Claneil Foundation; Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro; Independence Foundation; The Philadelphia Cultural Fund; E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation; Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation; Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation; The Henry Luce Foundation matching gifts program; The Barra Foundation; LEF Foundation; Louis N. Cassett Foundation; Quaker Chemical Foundation; and the Board of Directors and members of The Fabric Workshop and Museum.
For more information, please contact Jeffrey Bussman, Assistant to the Directors, at 215-561-8888 ext. 229
jeff@fabricworkshopandmuseum.org.
For general information, call 215-561-8888.
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