Yinka Shonibare’s Bronze Waves at James Cohan
The British‑Nigerian artist showcases a new series of work, including his first tapestry, in New York. Save to My Ocula
Yinka Shonibare, Wind Sculpture in Bronze II (2023). Hand painted bronze. 200 x 150 x 137 cm. Exhibition view: Yinka Shonibare, Boomerang: Returning to African Abstraction, James Cohan, New York (26 October–22 December 2023). Courtesy the artist and James Cohan, New York. Photo: Dan Bradica.
Yinka Shonibare, Abstract Bronze I (2023). Bronze sculpture, hand-painted with Dutch wax pattern. 200 x 146.8 x 126.4 cm. Exhibition view: Yinka Shonibare, Boomerang: Returning to African Abstraction, James Cohan, New York (26 October–22 December 2023). Courtesy the artist and James Cohan, New York. Photo: Dan Bradica.
Exhibition view: Yinka Shonibare, Boomerang: Returning to African Abstraction, James Cohan, New York (26 October–22 December 2023). Courtesy the artist and James Cohan, New York. Photo: Dan Bradica.
Exhibition view: Yinka Shonibare, Boomerang: Returning to African Abstraction, James Cohan, New York (26 October–22 December 2023). Courtesy the artist and James Cohan, New York. Photo: Dan Bradica.
Yinka Shonibare, Abstract Spiritual I (2023). Patchwork, appliqué, embroidery and Dutch wax printed cotton textile quiltwork. 160 x 120 cm. © Yinka Shonibare CBE 2023. Courtesy James Cohan, New York. Photo: Phoebe d'Heurle.
Yinka Shonibare, Modern Spiritual (Fang Ngil, Kumbaduba) (2023). Handwoven cotton, linen, wool and metallic thread. 200 x 160 cm. © Yinka Shonibare CBE 2023. Courtesy James Cohan, New York. Photo: Phoebe d'Heurle.
Yinka Shonibare‘s kaleidoscopic waves are nothing short of mesmerising. Despite their stillness, the hand-painted bronze sculptures seem to crest and break in slow motion. They are bold, joyous, and transfixing.
In his eighth solo exhibition with James Cohan, the British-Nigerian artist showcases these brilliant bronze sculptures alongside a new series of pictorial quilts and his first tapestry.
In a separate room to the bronze works, Shonibare presents ‘Abstract Spiritual’ (2023), a series of textile works made from patchwork, appliqué, embroidery, and Dutch wax-printed cotton.
More recently, Shonibare has ventured into tapestry. Modern Spiritual (Fang Ngil, Kumbaduba) (2023) delves into African aesthetics and Modernist abstraction. Two mask outlines emerge from a checkerboard of vivid indigo, blue, and green, with loose threads hanging from their features.
Shonibare’s subject references avantgarde painter Francis Picabia‘s depiction of masks, while his choice of medium harks back to the Modernist era when artists like Henri Matisse and Joan Miró revived tapestry as an artistic medium.
Boomerang: Returning to African Abstraction is on view at James Cohan’s 48 Walker Street location in New York until 22 December 2023. The exhibition preludes his solo exhibition opening at Serpentine Galleries in London in April 2024.
Main image: Exhibition view: Yinka Shonibare CBE, Boomerang: Returning to African Abstraction, James Cohan Gallery, New York (26 October–22 December 2023). Courtesy James Cohan Gallery.
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