Yinka Shonibare CBE: Suspended States

12 Apr-1 Sep 2024

Overview

Serpentine is honoured to present a solo exhibition of new and recent works by British Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare (b. 1962, London, UK). Titled Suspended States, the exhibition will be presented at Serpentine South from 12 April to 1 September 2024. It will coincide with the artist’s presentation at the 60th International Art Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia from April 2024.

The first solo exhibition of Shonibare’s work for over 20 years in a London public institution, it marks a return for the artist who first exhibited at Serpentine South in 1992 as a finalist in the Barclays Young Artist Award and as a participant in Serpentine’s 2006 Interview Marathon.
 
Suspended States will include new and recent installations, sculptures, pictorial quilts and woodcut prints. The works on view will explore central themes of legacies of colonial power, sites of refuge and shelter. Shonibare’s new works centre on conflicts and related migration, and conversations on public sculptures and their significance in our cities. The exhibition will also delve into the ecological impact of colonisation, the European legacy of imperialism and consequential attempts at peace.
 
Yinka Shonibare CBE RA said: “My work has always been about the crossing of boundaries; geographically, visually, historically, and conceptually. Suspended Statesis an exhibition that addresses the suspension of boundaries, whether psychological, physical, or geographical — all boundaries of nationhood are in a state of suspense. This is an exhibition in which Western iconography is reimagined and interrogated, at a moment in history when nationalism, protectionism and hostility towards foreigners is on the rise.”

Artists