Black Gold I

Object Details

Yinka Shonibare, born 1962, London, United Kingdom

Label Text

Shonibare's early paintings comprise small square canvases presented in a grid format upon a square or rectangular background color. More recently, they have featured small roundels on circular or oval painted backgrounds; and his latest works, with their glistening black splatter forms across the gallery wall, break down the idea of the border or edge altogether. Referencing "black gold," or Africa's rich oil resources, splatter paintings such as this one also recall the extravagant splashes and drips of the American abstract expressionist painter Jackson Pollock--to which they form a playful response.

(Yinka Shonibare MBE, Virtual exhibition website)

Description

25 circular canvases of varying dimensions arranged on a large-scale ink splatter pattern (applied by template). Each canvas consists of foliate patterns painted in black and gold paint on either edges or surface of stretched Dutch wax printed fabrics.

Exhibition History

Environment and Object in Recent African Art, The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York, February 5-July 31, 2011

Yinka Shonibare MBE, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia, September 24, 2008-February 1, 2009; Brooklyn Museum, June 26-September 20, 2009; National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 10, 2009-March 7, 2010

Published References

Aronson, Lisa and John S. Weber. 2012. Environment and Object: Recent African Art. New York: Prestel, pp. 46-49.

Milbourne, Karen E. 2009. Yinka Shonibare MBE. Exhibition brochure. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Shonibare, Yinka. 2008. Yinka Shonibare, MBE. Munich; New York: Prestel, pp. 158-159, 215.

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Credit Line

Museum purchase

2006

Object number

2008-2-1

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Copyright

(c) 2006 Yinka Shonibare, MBE

Type

Painting

Medium

Acrylic paint on Dutch wax printed cotton canvas

Dimensions

H x W: 330 x 673 cm (129 15/16 x 264 15/16 in.)

Geography

Nigeria

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National Museum of African Art Collection

National Museum of African Art

Record ID

nmafa_2008-2-1

Metadata Usage (text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys7b3f55500-88ad-44a2-bd37-447b765aff6b