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Yinka Shonibare
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Yinka Shonibare
Yinka Shonibare (born 9 August 1962) is a British artist whose work explores cultural identity, colonialism and post-colonialism within the contemporary context of globalisation. A hallmark of his art is the brightly coloured Ankara/batik fabric he uses. As Shonibare is paralysed on one side of his body, he uses assistants to make works under his direction.
Yinka Shonibare was born in Abuja, Nigeria, on 9 August 1962, the son of Olatunji Shonibare and Laide Shonibare. When he was three years old, his family moved to Lagos, Nigeria, where his father practised law. They were a middle-class family, and maintained a home in London whilst in Nigeria, and would return in the summer holidays. When he was 17 years old, Shonibare returned to the UK to take his A-levels at Redrice School, an English boarding school in Andover, Hampshire. Shonibare's father wanted him to study law.
At the age of 18, whilst he was at Wimbledon School of Arts, Shonibare contracted transverse myelitis, an inflammation of the spinal cord, which resulted in a long-term physical disability where one side of his body is paralysed. He had to re-learn to do everyday tasks, such as walking and dressing himself, and to create art again.
Shonibare studied Fine Art first at Byam Shaw School of Art (now Central Saint Martins). In the late 1980s, Shonibare studied at Goldsmiths, University of London for his MFA degree, graduating as part of the Young British Artists generation. He described the critiques he received as part of his degree as brutal, which prepared him for facing critique of his work in the media later in his career.
Following his studies, Shonibare worked as an arts development officer for Shape Arts, an organisation that makes arts accessible to people with disabilities. It took him about six years from graduating to work with a commercial gallery, which he has said was due to racism within the commercial art world.
In 1997, Shonibare appeared in Sensation at the Royal Academy of Arts. After that, he started to be invited to other international exhibitions.
In 1999, Shonibare created four alien-like sculptures that he named Dysfunctional Family, the piece consisting of a mother and daughter, both coloured in textures of white and blue, and a father and son textured in the colours of red and yellow.
He has exhibited at the Venice Biennial and at leading museums worldwide. He was notably commissioned by Okwui Enwezor at documenta XI in 2002 to create his most recognised work, Gallantry and Criminal Conversation, which launched him on the international stage.
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Yinka Shonibare
Yinka Shonibare (born 9 August 1962) is a British artist whose work explores cultural identity, colonialism and post-colonialism within the contemporary context of globalisation. A hallmark of his art is the brightly coloured Ankara/batik fabric he uses. As Shonibare is paralysed on one side of his body, he uses assistants to make works under his direction.
Yinka Shonibare was born in Abuja, Nigeria, on 9 August 1962, the son of Olatunji Shonibare and Laide Shonibare. When he was three years old, his family moved to Lagos, Nigeria, where his father practised law. They were a middle-class family, and maintained a home in London whilst in Nigeria, and would return in the summer holidays. When he was 17 years old, Shonibare returned to the UK to take his A-levels at Redrice School, an English boarding school in Andover, Hampshire. Shonibare's father wanted him to study law.
At the age of 18, whilst he was at Wimbledon School of Arts, Shonibare contracted transverse myelitis, an inflammation of the spinal cord, which resulted in a long-term physical disability where one side of his body is paralysed. He had to re-learn to do everyday tasks, such as walking and dressing himself, and to create art again.
Shonibare studied Fine Art first at Byam Shaw School of Art (now Central Saint Martins). In the late 1980s, Shonibare studied at Goldsmiths, University of London for his MFA degree, graduating as part of the Young British Artists generation. He described the critiques he received as part of his degree as brutal, which prepared him for facing critique of his work in the media later in his career.
Following his studies, Shonibare worked as an arts development officer for Shape Arts, an organisation that makes arts accessible to people with disabilities. It took him about six years from graduating to work with a commercial gallery, which he has said was due to racism within the commercial art world.
In 1997, Shonibare appeared in Sensation at the Royal Academy of Arts. After that, he started to be invited to other international exhibitions.
In 1999, Shonibare created four alien-like sculptures that he named Dysfunctional Family, the piece consisting of a mother and daughter, both coloured in textures of white and blue, and a father and son textured in the colours of red and yellow.
He has exhibited at the Venice Biennial and at leading museums worldwide. He was notably commissioned by Okwui Enwezor at documenta XI in 2002 to create his most recognised work, Gallantry and Criminal Conversation, which launched him on the international stage.
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