Article relating to an exhibition, 2009
Published by: art ltd
Year published: 2009
Number of pages: 4
Substantial four page feature on Yinka Shonibare’s art, published to coincide with his exhibition, Yinka Shonibare: A Flying Machine for Every Man, Woman and Child and Other Astonishing Works. Following its showing at Miami Art Museum (October 31 2008 - Jan 18 2009), Yinka Shonibare’s A Flying Machine for Every Man, Woman and Child And Other Astonishing Works toured to Santa Barbara Museum of Art (March 14 - June 21, 2009).
An installation view of Yinka Shonibare: A Flying Machine for Every Man, Woman and Child and Other Astonishing Works was featured on the cover of the magazine (May/June 2009). A note on page 10 of the magazine referenced the cover, as follows: “THE WORK OF YINKA SHONIBARE, MBE ADDRESSES HIGHLY LOADED ISSUES OF HISTORY, COLONIALISM, AND GLOBALISIM IN A VIVID, SEEMINGLY WHIMSICAL LANGUAGE THAT FULLY ENGAGES THE IMAGINATION WITHOUT RESORTING TO OBVIOUS POLITICAL DOGMA. The installation view on the cover carried a credit of SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF ART.
The text itself was written by Kim Beil, described in the magazine as “a freelance writer and curator currently living in Los Angelese. Her writing appears regularly in Artweek and Flavorpill. She is deeply committed to the role of arts institutions in as venues for temporalk or site-specific works of art. Her current research interests focus on the creation and installation of site-specific new media works.”
The feature on Shonibare appeared on pages 26 - 29 of the magazine and included several reproductions of Shonibare’s work. The first, ‘Hound’, [2000, Dutch was printed cotton textile, Three Mannequins, Four fibreglass dogs and fibreglass fox. Collection of Peter Norton and Eileen Harris Norton, Santa Monica] was reproduced across two pages, with the first several paragraphs of the text appearing within the reproduction.
The text was introduced as, “Examining globalism, colonialism and other mingled histories, the British-born artist has his first West Coast exhibition in Santa Barbara.” Overleaf, the highlighted text was, ‘Shonibare’s work deals with revealing and concealing or, one might say, constructing and deconstructing power relations of the colonial period in the present day. This circular structure is reflected by Shonibare’s use of wax print fabrics, commonly identified today as African Batiks.” Overleaf were three further reproductions: ‘La Méduse’ 2008, ‘A Flying Machine for Every Man, Woman and Child’ (detail) 2008, and ‘The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (Asia)’, 2008. The images are reproduced courtesy of the artist and James Cohan Gallery.
Born, 1962 in London, England
Miami, Florida, USA, United States of America
Santa Barbara, California, United States of America