This summer, Yinka Shonibare MBE RA presents work in a solo exhibition in Memphis and unveils a large scale public installation in London. He is also part of a group exhibition by Royal Academicians in the UK capital.
Until 6 November, Shonibare presents a solo exhibition as part of the Rotunda Projects series at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. The show brings together works from the artist’s series Rage Of The Ballet Gods. It is the inaugural exhibition in the series, which presents experimental works by renowned and emerging artists in the Museum’s rotunda as part of the institution’s centennial celebrations.
The artist also presents work in two locations in London in connection with the Royal Academy. A large scale public work has been unveiled on the facade of the Royal Academy’s Burlington Gardens, where it will remain until the end of the year. The work, titled RA Family Album, 2016, has been developed in connection with the RA’s 250th anniversary celebrations in 2018 and will wrap the building while restorative work takes place. It features images of influential Royal Academicians overlaid with a distinctive Shonibare fabric motif which drips down over the collage. The work is accompanied by a website which presents the stories behind the collage.
Shonibare says: “Before I was a Member I always thought the Royal Academy was quite mysterious. With this work I’m trying to bring the inside outside. It is a history but will also show the contemporary face of the RA; an organisation that is diverse and I wanted to express that. It’s traditional and subversive, paint democratically drips on everyone.”
Shonibare is also among twenty Royal Academicians to present work in Found, a group exhibition at the Foundling Museum, London from 27 May to 4 September. Curated by Cornelia Parker, the exhibition is inspired by the small tokens which were left with foundling children in the eighteenth century. Participating artists include Shonibare, Ron Arad, Mona Hatoum, Bob and Roberta Smith, Jeremy Deller and Tacita Dean.
--Found is on at The Foundling Museum, 40 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AZ, UK from 27 May - 4 September 2016
Rotunda Projects: Yinka Shonibare MBE is on at Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, 1934 Poplar Ave, Memphis, TN 38104, US from 7 May - 6 November 2016
RA Family Album: Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD, UK
Image: RA Family Album, 2016 - Yinka Shonibare MBE public artwork at the Royal Academy
