Yinka Shonibare MBE - Fabric-ation

Yorkshire Sculpture Park 02March – 01Sept 2013.


This week I had the opportunity to attend a blogger’s event arranged by the lovely Emma Bearman  (www.theculturevulture.co.uk/blog) at Yorkshire Sculpture Park to preview the new exhibition for Yinka Shonibare MBE. I didn’t think I was familiar with his work until I did some research and saw that he had previously had a piece of work displayed on the 4th plinth at Trafalgar Square, a piece that I had seen and photographed on many occasions.

We were greeted at the park by YSP deputy curator Sarah Coulson, who led us through the exhibition, explaining more about each piece and the inspiration behind it as well as a brief biography of the artist himself, Yinka Shonibare.

Yinka was born in London in 1962 to Nigerian parents. He returned to Lagos aged three and remained there until his teens when he returned to London to study art.  In his work, Yinka often challenges the misconceptions that people have whether it is about a certain place or period in history.

The exhibition is set out over several rooms in the underground gallery with a couple of pieces also outside, although at the time of our visit it was a little too dark to see and appreciate these works. The pieces within the gallery though were very colourful and eye catching and engaged you immediately so that you wanted to study them in more detail.

What I liked about the exhibition and Yinka’s work is that it can be enjoyed on many levels and by people of all ages. Firstly, with every piece, you instantly notice the use of colour and bold prints on the fabric which are quite beautiful. However as you study each piece in more detail you are drawn into it and become aware of the other themes that are being explored. In many instances there seemed to be a reference to childhood, whether it was the size of the sculptures or the children’s toys used as part of them. These prompted me to think of how children often have more simplistic and fantastical views of things and yet are also blatantly honest in what they see - something which as adults we often fail to see.

Black Gold - photo from www.yinkashonibarembe.co.uk
 

I had many favourite pieces amongst the collection including: New York Toy Painting, consisting of many painted globes each adorned with figurines representing something traditionally associated with America or New York; Black – Gold a large piece of artwork adorning one wall which looks like a splash of oil with several smaller circles inside. It tells how Nigeria has been one of the main oil producers since the 1980’s with 80% of its exports being in oil yielding high values to government revenue. But Nigeria is also a place rife with corruption and the production of oil also raises many environmental issues. Despite all the wealth produced from the export of this oil, it is of little benefit to the Nigerian people; Alien Family, fabric sculptures that were bright, colourful and rather cute to look at but riding on flying machines that looked like they were designed by Leonardo da Vinci rather than the hi-tech spaceships you would expect.

Dysfunctional Family - photo from www.yinkashonibarembe.co.uk
 

I also enjoyed the room that seemed entirely devoted to Lord Nelson – from the brightly coloured cannon made as replica from HMS Victory to the paintings copied from old masters and imposed with a dying Nelson and other characters such as women and people from different nationalities that you might not have expected to see around the time of Nelson. However, if you study Nelson’s column in Trafalgar Square you will see at the bottom of the plinth 4 carvings from scenes on HMS Victory. One of them portrays how they were 19 different nationalities on board with Nelson, so what might have seemed artistic licence by many was actually correct.

My favourite piece though was the ballerina on a cloud. Like many of Yinka’s sculptures, the ballerina is headless and the skin tone used makes it impossible to identify a nationality. What immediately stood out for me was how beautiful and graceful the ballerina was, posed whilst dancing en Pointe with her arms stretched out either side of her. The attention to the detail of her leg and arm muscles was incredibly lifelike and the colours of her tutu and shoes all added to the aesthetics of the piece. Whilst you are busy admiring all of this, you perhaps don’t notice that the cloud she is dancing on is actually a black mushroom cloud. What Yinka alludes to here is that the ballerina is representative of the higher echelons of society who are so removed from reality that they are stood on a cloud and unaware of what is going on around them.

Flower Cloud - photo from www.yinkashonibarembe.com
 

Of the exhibitions I have been to, I found this to be one of the most enjoyable, not just because each piece was so visually captivating but because you are drawn in to study in greater detail and get to appreciate the thoughts and themes behind each work. Each piece challenges your initial perceptions leaving you with much to ponder over and talk about afterwards. I would thoroughly recommend a visit to this exhibition.

Thanks to Emma Bearman from www.theculturevulture.co.uk for organising the event and to Sarah Coulson for a fascinating insight into Yinka's work.

For more information on the artist http://www.yinkashonibarembe.com/
For information on Yorkshire Sculpture Park http://www.ysp.co.uk/

To read more about cultural events in the Yorkshire area http://www.theculturevulture.co.uk/blog

Review - Behind the Scenes at the Hepworth Gallery

They say that Art is subjective in that it will mean something different to each person, indeed, ask several people how they would define art and you are likely to get many different definitions.

Art is not a subject I would claim to know a lot about, I have always enjoyed visiting art galleries and can remember being introduced to the works of Rembrandt and Van Gogh around the age of eight. I studied the Pre-Raphaelite era as part of my degree through the Open University and have always had a fondness for the Impressionist painters and what I guess might be termed traditional or classical art. When looking at paintings I like the kind that draws you into it and makes you feel part of the scene and I enjoy learning not just about the piece of art itself but the story behind it.

Last night I had the opportunity to attend a bloggers event at the Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield for a behind the scenes glimpse of their forthcoming exhibition which opens 11^th February. I am ashamed to say that despite living in Wakefield for many years I had not visited the gallery since it opened in 2011. This visit therefore was a chance not just to see the gallery but also to learn more about their latest exhibition.

We were warmly welcomed by several of the curators and Simon Wallis, the director of the Hepworth Gallery. He spoke to us about the vision behind the gallery in encouraging the people of Yorkshire to embrace the arts and how they were trying to make art more accessible to people of all ages. Since its opening just 8 months ago the Hepworth Gallery has received some 385,000 visitors which is no small feat when you consider its location and the fact that all of these visitors are intentional rather than just passersby. The information in my press kit also told me that the gallery has already won several awards including The British Design Awards 2012  - Best Architectural Achievement and winner of the Conde Nast Travellers Award 2011 – Culture. It has also been nominated for the Art Fund Prize which if successful would not only afford them the prestigious title of Museum of the Year but also £100,000. For more details on this award and to vote for the Hepworth Gallery www.artfundprize.org.uk  

I was suitably impressed with the building which is very light and airy. The plain walls meant that you concentrated more on the art rather than being distracted by the decor and it complimented the art and sculptures on display, both being contemporary in design.

The new exhibition features the work of four contemporary artists; Ben Rivers, David Thorpe and Heather and Ivan Morison – using film, sculpture and installation and performance to explore our relationship to nature in the first of a series of spring exhibitions.

Knowing that the works on display were going to be of a contemporary nature, I was concerned that I wouldn’t fully understand the pieces or appreciate what the artist was trying to convey. I envisaged an Emperor’s new clothes scenario with everyone else looking on in great admiration whilst I just saw the bare materials. I was relieved therefore that we had the assistance of several curators and also two of the artists to explain their work and the inspiration behind it. As this was a behind the scenes look at the Preview, the galleries were still in the process of setting up the exhibitions which gave us the opportunity to see just how much work goes in to the opening.

The first exhibition we saw was the exhibition by David Thorpe which I liked immensely as it reminded me of William Morris and John Ruskin whose works I am familiar with. What I found interesting about the work on display was that David uses mediaeval techniques to create his work rather than mechanically mass produce it. Every piece is therefore done by hand including carving, leather cutting and painting. The exhibition includes two watercolours A Necessary Life (2011) and Revived Pattern (2010) and three sculptures Private Lives, Quiet Lives and The Collaborator (all 2010). I liked the detail of the leaves and berries and the intricacies of the carving and cutting but also enjoyed hearing how the underlying theme was that of a shield or defence. Whilst the installation of all the pieces was not quite complete it looked to be a very interesting and thought provoking exhibition.

The Collborator - David Thorpe

The next gallery we visited had been blacked out in order to showcase the award winning film made by Ben Rivers  - Slow Action. When the curator described the film as a post apocalyptic science fiction film I began to wonder just exactly what we would be seeing. The film was produced on 16mm film reel and is a combination of documentary, fiction and ethnographic study -  narrated by American writer Mark von Schlegell.

Ben was on hand to explain that the piece had been commissioned for Darwin’s 200^th anniversary by Picture This who are based in Bristol. He had started his research into the project by rereading some of Darwin’s better known publications such as Voyage of the Beagle and The Descent of Man. Ben’s idea was to show how islands’ biogeographys evolve differently when isolated and surrounded by unusual habitats. Based on a concept of Earth sometime in the future when sea levels have risen creating utopias that appear as future mini societies. For his film Ben travelled to the islands of Lanzarote, a popular island known for its beach resorts and yet one of the driest places on the planet; Gunkanjima, an island off the coast of Nagasaki containing a deserted city built on the rocks and formerly the home to thousands of families mining its reserves; Tuvalu, a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean; and Somerset a fictitious island.

Whilst we did get the chance to view some of the film footage, they were still in the process of setting up the wireless headphones and sound system so we were unable to hear any of the accompanying narration. Some of the scenes on the film looked incredible but it was hard to fully appreciate it without the sound and so I am determined to go back and visit the exhibition again in order to get the full effect. It was interesting though to meet the artist and to hear about his inspiration for the piece and the work involved in putting it together.

The final exhibit was by Heather and Ivan Morison whose work also includes a large sized sculpture of a black cloud which is located in the grounds of the Hepworth Gallery. In their latest work, they use objects, puppets and narration to present a piece of object theatre that tells the tale of love in foreboding times. It is based on the life and works of British Novelist Anna Kavan.

This was perhaps the exhibition that I found the hardest to identify with despite the explanations from the curator. Whilst I did admire the craftsmanship used in many of the objects and the materials they used, I found it hard to fully understand what was being portrayed. Admittedly this exhibition was also still being put together and so many parts of it were as yet unfinished but hopefully when it is completed it will be easier to comprehend and appreciate.

Overall I had a very enjoyable evening and gained a fascinating insight into the work of the gallery and that of the individual artists; what inspires them and how they go about their creative process. If you haven’t already been to the Hepworth Gallery, I would recommend a visit – especially during this upcoming exhibition – or during the half term holidays when they are holding special events for children.

I would like to thank the staff at the Hepworth Gallery for the opportunity to attend this behind the scenes preview and also Emma Bearman for organising this event with them .

 For more information about the Hepworth Gallery and its forthcoming exhibitions  http://www.hepworthwakefield.org/

Follow them on Twitter www.twitter.com/HepworthGallery or Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TheHepworthWakefield