Yinka Shonibare CBE : African Spirits of Modernism

4 Jun-31 Jul 2021

Overview

Yinka Shonibare CBE RA presents ‘African Spirits of Modernism’ in June 2021, the British-Nigerian artist’s seventh solo exhibition at Stephen Friedman Gallery. Drawing on themes of human hybridity and transformation, these new works juxtapose icons of European Classical antiquity with African artefacts from Picasso’s own collection. The exhibition comprises quilts that explode with colour and polymorphous forms; three hand-painted sculptures depicting mythological creatures and a new series of African masks that explores the artist’s own identity as a “post-colonial hybrid”. These new works are accompanied by an historical archive which captures Paris’ burgeoning interest in African art during the 1920s.