Suspended States, the first solo exhibition of Y.S.F. and G.A.S. founder Yinka Shonibare CBE RA for over 20 years in a London public institution is now open at Serpentine Gallery. It marks a return for Shonibare 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 includes both new and recent installations, sculptures, pictorial quilts and woodcut prints. The works on view 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 also delves into the ecological impact of colonisation, the European legacy of imperialism and consequential attempts at peace.
Yinka Shonibare CBE: Suspended States, 2024. African Bird Magic installation view, Serpentine South. © Yinka Shonibare CBE 2024. Photo: © Jo Underhill. Courtesy Yinka Shonibare CBE and Serpentine.
"My work has always been about the crossing of boundaries; geographically, visually, historically, and conceptually. Suspended States is 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." - Yinka Shonibare CBE RA
Yinka Shonibare CBE: Suspended States, 2024. Sanctuary City installation view, Serpentine South. © Yinka Shonibare CBE 2024. Photo: © Jo Underhill. Courtesy Yinka Shonibare CBE and Serpentine.
Key new installations within the exhibition include Sanctuary City, a series of miniature buildings which are currently or have historically been places of refuge for persecuted and vulnerable groups. The War Library, the second new installation in the show features 5,000 books bound in Dutch wax print with gold lettering on the spines indicating conflicts and peace treaties with links to imperial ambitions. Shonibare reflects that this work raises questions about "human memory and amnesia."
Yinka Shonibare CBE: Suspended States, 2024. The War Library installation view, Serpentine South. © Yinka Shonibare CBE 2024. Photo: © Jo Underhill. Courtesy Yinka Shonibare CBE and Serpentine.
Central to the exhibition are themes of climate emergency and food sustainability. The series of African Bird Magic quilts juxtaposes images of African artefacts which inspired Western Modernism with images of endangered African birds. These pieces explore the degradation of the African environment through colonial industrialisation and its disastrous effects on ecology.
The exhibition also explores how Shonibare's social practice is an important extension of his visual one with a room dedicated to uncovering and celebrating the evolution from Guest Projects founded in London in 2008 to Guest Artists Space Foundation and its two residency sites in Lagos and on the outskirts of the village of Ikise near Ijebu Ode.
"I established the farm because I realised the importance of researching around nature, developing creative projects and celebrating the relationship with nature and the notion of food sustainability. It is very important, particularly for a place like Nigeria where food is heavily imported. The farm is a place where we're growing food and where creative people can stay. It's about entering my studio practice as well as my social practice." - Yinka Shonibare CBE RA
Yinka Shonibare CBE: Suspended States, 2024. Guest Projects and Guest Artists Space Foundation installation view, Serpentine South. © Yinka Shonibare CBE 2024. Photo: © Jo Underhill. Courtesy Yinka Shonibare CBE and Serpentine.
Throughout the exhibition are works incorporating Shonibare's signature use of Dutch wax print, a symbol of the tangled relationship between Africa and Europe. Replicas of London public monuments including colonial figures such as Queen Victoria and Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener have been scaled down and painted with Dutch wax print-style patterns to query their public authority in the series Decolonised Structures. These works draw attention to the role of the original monuments and question their continued presence in the public realm.
Yinka Shonibare CBE: Suspended States, 2024. Installation view, Serpentine South. © Yinka Shonibare CBE 2024. Photo: © Jo Underhill. Courtesy Yinka Shonibare CBE and Serpentine.
The exhibition is curated by Tamsin Hong, Exhibitions Curator, and Alexa Chow, Exhibitions Assistant Curator, in close collaboration with the artist.
The exhibition is presented at Serpentine South from 12th April until 1st September 2024.
Banner image credit: Yinka Shonibare CBE, Decolonised Structures, 2022-23. Fibreglass sculptures, hand-painted with Dutch wax pattern, gold leaf and wooden plinths. Dimensions variable. Commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation. Courtesy of the artist and Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, Johannesburg, London and New York, James Cohan Gallery, New York and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York. Photographer: Stephen White & Co. © Yinka Shonibare CBE