Page 39 - 2018 Powerlist

Yinka Shonibare
Artist Arts, Fashion & Design

Towering at six metres tall in the courtyard of the historic
gallery, Yinka’s textile sculpture Wind Sculpture VI formed
a centrepiece to the annual Royal Academy Summer
Exhibition this year.
Marking a return to his use of Dutch wax textiles, the
three-dimensional piece of fabric appeared to blow in the
breeze. Summer Show co-ordinator Eleanor Cooper said it
explored “the notion of harnessing motion and freezing it in
a moment of time”.
In March, Yinka’s powerful pro-immigration ‘British
Library’ exhibition at New York’s James Cohan gallery saw
no fewer than 6,000 books bound in the Nigerian-British
artist’s trademark printed batik cotton lining the walls.
Each book had the name of an immigrant to the UK printed
on its spine, in celebration of their contributions to British
culture. The work, co-commissioned by the Brighton
Festival in 2014, was showcased last year at Margate’s
Turner Contemporary gallery.
Yinka’s physical disability continues to increase with age
– as a teenager he contracted an inflammation of the spinal
Chris Ofili cord, paralysing one side of his body – and he now uses
an electric wheelchair. He uses assistants to help make his
Artist iconic works under direction.
In 2004, he was shortlisted for the Turner Prize and in
2003 he was awarded an MBE. His work was one of the most
One of the world’s foremost artists, Ofili this year unveiled prominent to feature in African Africa, an exhibition of
his first-ever tapestry work at the National Gallery – a contemporary African Art at the Museu Afro, Brazil which
spectacular and monumental piece, The Caged Bird’s Song, ran for five months last year. He created a scaffolding wrap
fusing mythology with the vibrancy of the Trinidadian for the Royal Academy of Arts, which will surround the
landscape and referencing contemporary black culture. building during a redevelopment, while his Nelson’s Ship
The work hung in the iconic central London gallery until in a Bottle sculpture that debuted on Trafalgar Square’s
the end of August before taking up permanent residence fourth plinth is now permanently on display at the National
at the Clothworkers’ Company, which commissioned it. Maritime Museum in Greenwich.
Ofili’s watercolour painting took five weavers three years to
complete in an Edinburgh studio and has been credited with
breathing new life into a faltering craft.
This summer Ofili also unveiled his inaugural show for
Victoria Miro’s new Venice gallery – the first artist to show
at the permanent space. His Poolside Magic series of vivid
watercolour, pastel and charcoal works on paper were
acclaimed as being “resoundingly beautiful”.
He first came to prominence in the early 1990s, going on to
win the Turner Prize in 1998. In June 2015 his controversial
painting, The Holy Virgin Mary, which depicts a black Virgin
Mary surrounded by pictures of female genitalia cut out
from pornographic magazines and decorated with elephant
dung, was sold by art collector David Walsh for £2.9 million
at Christie’s. It was an auction record for the Trinidad-based
British artist.
The painting caused a furore when it was exhibited in
New York 15 years ago. Then mayor Rudy Giuliani called it
“sick” and wanted it banned.
In April 2015, Ofili was named as one of Time magazine’s
100 most influential people in the world. He was the only
visual artist on the list. In April this year he received a
CBE for his services to art. Ofili said receiving the CBE was
special because of his parents’ decision to move to England
from Nigeria more than 40 years ago.

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