22 Facts About Yinka Shonibare

Yinka Shonibare's work explores cultural identity, colonialism and post-colonialism within the contemporary context of globalisation.

Yinka Shonibare was born in London, England, on 9 August 1962, the son of Olatunji Shonibare and Laide Shonibare.

When he was 17 years old, Yinka Shonibare returned to the UK to take his A-levels at Redrice School.

Yinka Shonibare studied Fine Art first at Byam Shaw School of Art and then at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he received his MFA degree, graduating as part of the Young British Artists generation.

In 1999, Yinka Shonibare created four alien-like sculptures that he named "Dysfunctional Family", the piece consisting of a mother and daughter, both coloured in textures of white and blue, and a father and son textured in the colours of red and yellow.

Yinka Shonibare has exhibited at the Venice Biennial and at leading museums worldwide.

Yinka Shonibare was notably commissioned by Okwui Enwezor at documenta XI in 2002 to create his most recognised work, Gallantry and Criminal Conversation, which launched him on the international stage.

Yinka Shonibare became an Honorary Fellow of Goldsmiths' College in 2003, was awarded an MBE in 2004, received an Honorary Doctorate of the Royal College of Art in 2010 and was appointed a CBE in 2019.

Yinka Shonibare was elected Royal Academician by the Royal Academy of Arts in 2013.

Yinka Shonibare has exhibited at the Venice Biennial and internationally at leading museums worldwide.

Yinka Shonibare is extending this to spaces in Lagos, Nigeria.

Yinka Shonibare's work explores issues of colonialism alongside those of race and class, through a range of media which include painting, sculpture, photography, installation art, and, more recently, film and performance.

Yinka Shonibare has these fabrics made up into European 18th-century dresses, covering sculptures of alien figures or stretched onto canvases and thickly painted over.

Yinka Shonibare is well known for creating headless, life-size sculptural figures meticulously positioned and dressed in vibrant wax cloth patterns in order for history and racial identity to be made complex and difficult to read.

Yinka Shonibare recreates the paintings of famous artists using headless mannequins with Batik or Ankara textiles instead of European fabrics.

Yinka Shonibare uses these fabrics when depicting European art and fashion to portray a 'culture clash' and a theme of cultural interaction within postcolonialism.

Yinka Shonibare recreated Fragonard's series The Progress of Love, which included his works The Meeting, The Pursuit, The Love Letter, and The Swing.

In October 2013, Yinka Shonibare took part in Art Wars at the Saatchi Gallery curated by Ben Moore.

Yinka Shonibare is disabled, physically incapable of making works himself, and relies upon a team of assistants, operating himself as a conceptual artist.

Yinka Shonibare's disability has increased with age, resulting in him using an electric wheelchair.

In later life, Yinka Shonibare has discussed his disability and its role within his work as a creative artist.

In 2013, Yinka Shonibare was announced as patron of the annual Shape Arts "Open" exhibition where disabled and non-disabled artists are invited to submit work in response to an Open theme.