Yinka Shonibare, Flower Time, mixed media, 2006
Yinka Shonibare's new show at Stephen Friedman, 'Flower Time', will consist of paintings, sculpture and film works that share a common poetic charge, and chime with certain major geopolitical themes of our time. Of course, a broad concern with globalized culture is a hallmark of Shonibare's oeuvre, as he is best known for his use of colourful fabrics purchased from London's Brixton market that signify 'Africa', but are in fact Dutch-produced, based on Indonesian designs.
The show's title, 'Flower Time', recalls the heady optimism of the 1960s, while also ironically reminding us of the great disparity between pacifistic idealism and our contemporary reality. The painting installation, Black Gold, will consist of a number of circular black and gold canvasses mounted on a black paint-splattered wall. The title at once refers to the slang term for oil as well as to the formal (colour) qualities of the work, thus deftly drawing a parallel between the seductive qualities of the artwork and the seduction of oil as both stuff and source of immense wealth, perhaps also poking a finger at the monetary worth of art itself. Shonibare asks, "Can art evolve absolutely oblivious to our time of extreme trauma? Or can dealing with trauma be a valuable solace?"
A film, Odile and Odette, and a sculpture, Flower Cloud, each feature ballet dancers dressed in Shonibare's signature fabric, and the dance-based film continues in the vein of the artist's 2004 Turner Prize exhibit. The poignant small-scale sculpture of a bouquet of flowers, also titled Flower Time, will round off the show, which will confirm Shonibare as one of the leading British artists of his generation.
Yinka Shonibare
Yinka Shonibare, 'Flower Time'
1 December 2006 - 13 January 2007
Stephen Friedman Gallery
25-28 Old Burlington Street
London W1S 3AN
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7494 1434
www.stephenfriedman.com/
)
)
)