Yorkshire Sculpture Park presents Yinka Shonibare CBE RA: FABRIC-ATION (2013)

Presented in three of YSP’s indoor galleries and the open air, Yinka Shonibare CBE RA: FABRIC–ATION featured over thirty vibrant works from the period 2002–2013 including sculpture, film, photography, painting and collage, with many never before seen in the UK.

FABRIC–ATION was a unique opportunity for audiences to trace Shonibare’s creative development at a time when he was increasingly active in creating work for public space. Offering an invaluable insight into a challenging, political and celebratory artist, this important exhibition remains the most extensive survey of Shonibare’s work in the UK. As well as dealing with issues such as migration, climate change, food and oil production and Britain’s post-colonial legacy, it showcased the first two of the artist’s six-metre high ‘Wind Sculptures’, foregrounding a new and fertile area of development for Shonibare. Standing over six metres tall, ‘Wind Sculptures’ (2013) are richly coloured, painted with Shonibare’s signature batik-inspired surface pattern. Although constructed in fibreglass, they appeared fluid like fabric caught by the breeze. These followed the success of Shonibare’s commissions for the Royal Opera House, London (2012) and the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square (2010).

Virtual Tour with Clare Lilley, Director of Programme at YSP

Join Clare Lilley, Director of Programme at Yorkshire Sculpture park for a deep dive into Yinka Shonibare CBE RA: FABRIC-ATION.

An Evening with Yinka Shonibare CBE RA

Join Clare Lilley of Yorkshire Sculpture Park in conversation with artist Yinka Shonibare CBE RA, where they delve into his landmark exhibition FABRIC-ATION (2013).

Clare Lilley is Director of Programme at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, in 2014 named the UK Art Fund Museum of the Year. YSP presents a world-class programme of modern and contemporary sculpture across 500 acres of historic parkland and five galleries, pre-pandemic connecting with over 35,000 learners and welcoming half a million visitors each year.

Yinka Shonibare CBE RA uses citations of Western art history and literature to question the validity of contemporary cultural and national identities within the context of globalization. Through examining race, class and the construction of cultural identity, his works comment on the tangled interrelationship between Africa and Europe, and their respective economic and political histories.

In 2004, he was nominated for the Turner Prize and in 2010, his first public art commission ‘Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle’ was displayed on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, London.