Fabric Squares

Yinka Shonibare, MBE (born 1962) is a contemporary artist living in Britain. more...

Home
Art
Basketry
Bead Art
Candle & Soap Making
Ceramics, Pottery
Crafts Wholesale Lots
Crocheting
Cross Stitch
Decorative, Tole Painting
Drawing
Embroidery
Fabric
Chenille
Chiffon
Corduroy
Cotton
Fabric Squares
2'' Squares
3'' Squares
4'' Squares
5'' Squares
6'' Squares
Other Fabric Squares
Fabric Yardage
1 - 2 yards
1 yard
13 + yards
3 - 5 yards
6 - 12 yards
Fabric Bundles
Fat Quarters
Other Cotton
Denim
Felt
Flannel
Fleece
Lace
Linen
Lycra
Organza
Other Fabric
Rayon
Satin
Sequined Fabric
Silk
Suede & Ultrasuede
Synthetics & Blends
Tulle
Velvet & Velour
Wool
Fabric Embellishments
Floral Crafts
Framing & Matting
General Art & Craft Supplies
Glass Art Crafts
Handcrafted Items
Kids Crafts
Knitting
Lacemaking, Tatting
Latch Rug Hooking
Leathercraft
Macramé
Metalworking
Mosaic
Needlepoint
Other Arts & Crafts
Painting
Paper Crafts & Origami
Quilting
Ribbon
Rubber Stamping & Embossing
Scrapbooking
Sewing
Shellcraft
Spinning
Upholstery
Wall Décor, Tatouage
Weaving
Woodworking
Yarn

Biography

Yinka Shonibare was born in London to Nigerian parents. At the age of three they moved to Lagos, the most populous city in Nigeria, where he grew up. He spoke Yoruba at home, but only English at his exclusive private school. His father was a successful lawyer, and summers were spent at their Battersea home in London. When Shonibare was 16, he was sent to board in England for his final two years of school education.

Shonibare has called himself "truly bicultural".

At the age of 19 he decided to become an artist, against the wishes of his father. A month into his arts course he became seriously ill with a rare viral infection which attacked his spine and left him temporarily paralysed. He spent much of the next three years in physiotherapy. He is now paralysed down one side and walks with difficulty using a stick. On his CV he identifies himself as 'physically disabled'.

He uses his physical limitations creatively - for example he works on many small scale pieces when making a larger scale artwork (see Maxa). "It’s certainly affected my method," he comments. "I’ve become very good at delegating and have a number of people who facilitate my priorities." He involves a professional theatre costumer to make up his dresses and professional photographers when necessary, arranging himself in poses which hide any stiffness of posture. He is the father of Kayode Shonibare-Lewis who hopes to become a computer games artist, keeping art in the family. Kayode is known as K.

Further art education:

1984-1989 London's Byam Shaw School of Art, London (now Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design); MA in Fine Art -1991 Goldsmiths College, London;

Goldsmith's college in the 1990s was famed for being the cradle of the Young British Artists with whom Shonibare had some group exhibitions.

Work

Shonibare explores issues of race and class through a range of media that includes sculpture, painting, photography, and installation art.

A key material in Shonibare's work since 1994 are the brightly coloured 'African' fabrics (Dutch wax-printed cotton) that he buys himself from Brixton market in London.

"But actually, the fabrics are not really authentically African the way people think," says Shonibare. "They prove to have a crossbred cultural background quite of their own. And it’s the fallacy of that signification that I like. It’s the way I view culture—it’s an artificial construct." (2) Today the main exporters of 'African' fabric from Europe are based in Manchester, England and Vlisco from Helmond, the Netherlands.

Read more at Wikipedia.org