I'm long overdue in a post on the amazing contemporary artist Yinka Shonibare whose work is as breathtaking as it is thought-provoking. Shonibare is a London sculptural and instillation artist who deals with the theme of class and globalization, more specifically the complicated relationship between Africa and Europe. So you will often seen African-style textiles on his sculptures which take the form of something commonly European.
Long before he had his giant
Ship in a Bottle sculpture in Trafalgar Square, Shonibare was playing with eighteenth century imagery, with astonishing results:
Here are some of his work that reference eighteenth century paintings. Can you recognize all of them?
Others are just plain fantastic:
Oh, that is amazing! I hadn't heard of him before.
ReplyDeleteI recognize all of them, but the second one drives me mad! I can't recall its title, nor whether it was Watteau, Boucher or Fragonard. My bet is on Watteau.
The rest are:
Raeburn, The Skating Minister
Goya, Sleep of Reason
Fragonard, The Swing
Gainsborough, Mr & Mrs Andrews
Wonderful! I only recognize the Fragonard.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard of this artist before either. It's fantastic! I believe the second is also Fragonard, "Love Letter."
ReplyDeleteThese are incredible--thanks for introducing me to this art (I DO wish for more heads, tho:)
ReplyDeleteI have a Yinka Shonibare poster right across from me, the dueling gowns image :)
ReplyDeleteI knew you'd like Yinka's work :) Have you seen Isabelle de Borchgrave's art as well? She makes historical garments out of paper. I've seen them in life and they are soo realistic.
ReplyDeletehttp://trouver.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/paper-illusions-isabelle-de-borchgrave-2-trouvais.jpg?w=600&h=880
PS. I kind of abandoned interacting with webland for awhile but I've remained a devoted reader :)
Ooo yes I have seen her work and it's just amazing, isn't it!
ReplyDelete