Opening for Frieze week in October 2016, Yinka Shonibare MBE presents his sixth solo exhibition at Stephen Friedman Gallery titled ‘...and the wall fell away'.
The show marks a pivotal moment in the artist's practice with the complete absence of the Dutch wax batik textiles for which he is known. Shonibare removes the fabric altogether and uses the batik designs in new forms; mural painting, bronze sculpture, screen prints on canvas and the appropriation of classical sculpture.
Shonibare uses the patterns as a device to interrupt the canon of classical and renaissance art and Western religious iconography. He indicates his intention to challenge and dismantle the boundaries of Western understanding in the title of the show. By leaving the ‘trace' of his trademark batik motifs, Shonibare gives a personal insight into the complexities of identity, nationality and colonial history.
The exhibition is divided into two parts: Gallery One is focused on ideas of rationality in classical art and Gallery Two, on religious hybridity.
Frieze week West End private view: Thursday 6 October 2016, 6-8pm
