Press Preview and Tour of 'Yinka Shonibare MBE' Exhibit at the National Museum of African Art

IMimage 6.jpg

Yinka Shonibare, MBE

Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball) (still) 2004

High definition digital video

32:00 minutes loop

Edition 1 of 6

Image courtesy of the artist, James Cohan Gallery, New York.

And Stephen Friedman Gallery, London.

Copyright the artist.


SOR - Africa large. Jpg

Yinka Shonibare, MBE

The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (Africa) 2008

Type c photograph mounted on aluminum

Image size: 182.9 cm x 125.7 cm, framed size: 207 x 147.3 x 6.4 cm

Edition of 5

Image courtesy of the artist, James Cohan Gallery, New York

And Stephen Friedman Gallery, London

Copyright the artist.

2 Nov 2009 19:00 Africa/Lagos

Press Preview and Tour of 'Yinka Shonibare MBE' Exhibit at the National Museum of African Art

WHAT: Press preview and tour of "Yinka Shonibare MBE" exhibit at the National Museum of African Art


WHEN: Monday, Nov. 9
10 a.m. to noon

WHERE: Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art
Lecture hall, sub-level two

WHO: Johnnetta Cole, director, National Museum of African Art
Karen Milbourne, on-site curator, National Museum of African Art
Rachel Kent, senior curator, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia


Yinka Shonibare, one of the most celebrated Nigerian artists of this generation, is the focus of an exhibition at the National Museum of African Art. Organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, Australia, the exhibit features dramatic paintings, photographs, film and sculptural tableaux that inspire reconsideration of class, race, nationality and history through their sensual beauty and use of irony.


The exhibit occupies two levels of the museum, assembling works of art never before seen together. The exhibit opens the National Museum of African Art's multiyear celebration "Nigeria: Then, Now and Forever," a series of exhibitions, public programs and special events showcasing the arts, culture and people of Nigeria. "Yinka Shonibare MBE" opens to the public Nov. 10 and continues through March 7, 2010.


About Yinka Shonibare


Born in England in 1962 and raised in Nigeria, Shonibare currently lives and works in London, where he has gained international attention by exploring issues of race and class through a range of media that includes sculpture, painting, photography and installation art. Shonibare is well known for his headless mannequins dressed in colorful batik fabrics.


CONTACT: Media only: Keith Blackman, +1-202-530-4585; keith.blackman@bm.com; or Kimberly Mayfield, +1-202-633-4649, +1-202-431-5954 (cell)


Media Web site: http://newsdesk.si.edu/


/PRNewswire-USNewswire -- Nov. 2/


Source: Smithsonian National Museum of African Art