ART
Ahead of three major new shows, Yinka Shonibare discusses the pleasure and political purpose of producing art
‘I’M ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT A LOT OF THINGS,’ says Yinka Shonibare. ‘Connecting with the zeitgeist drives my work, and because the world continually changes, there are constant conundrums to think about.’
The influential, award-winning British-Nigerian artist is known for opening lines of enquiry into topics such as race and empire with his colourful, nuanced installations, paintings and sculptures. His latest projects are being shown at the Serpentine, in his first London solo institutional exhibition for 20 years, and are as dazzling as they are thought-provoking.
In perhaps the most striking series, ‘Decolonised Structures’, the familiar figures of Queen Victoria and other public statues are painted with the bright patterns of Dutch wax print – a fabric inspired by Indonesian batik that was then mass-produced by the Dutch and sold to British colonies in West Africa. The decoration draws you closer, to inspect what Shonibare is exploring in these works, which were prompted by the toppling of Bristol’s Edward Colston statue in 2020. ‘In Britain, we have such a creatively energetic, culturally diverse society, but much of thatistheresultofanon-rosystoryinvolving war, empire and dominating people. I think I’m making the statues nicer,’ he says with a smile. ‘Less menacing. Because we do now live in a less jingoistic society, where everyone has a stake in our public spaces, and so the spaces should reflect that change.’
Elsewhere in the exhibition, miniature real-life refuges in Sanctuary City address the issue of safe shelter, and the artist pays tribute to en
