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Exhibit features work of Nigerian artist Shonibare

Aug. 31, 2010

KALAMAZOO--Original film, photography and sculptures by Yinka Shonibare, MBE, will be on display Sept. 9 through Oct. 13 at Western Michigan University's Richmond Center for Visual Arts.

The Sleep of Reason painting.The exhibit is open to the public free of charge in the Monroe-Brown Gallery during normal hours.

Gallery Hours

  • Monday through Thursday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  • Friday: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
  • Saturday: noon to 6 p.m.

Shonibare is a painter, photographer, filmmaker and installation artist. His art is influenced by both the cultures of Nigeria, where he grew up, and England, where he studied and now lives. He has exhibited widely throughout the world, and was shortlisted for the prestigious Turner Prize in 2004.

Shonibare's work was included in the African pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007. His numerous group shows include: "William Hogarth" (2006, organized by Musee du Louvre, Paris); "War and Discontent" (2007, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston); and "African Art Today: An Unbounded Vista" (2008, Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, Mo.). His public sculpture proposal for the Fourth Plinth site in London's Trafalgar was installed in May. The maquette will be included in the Richmond Center's exhibition.

Among Shonibare's recent solo exhibits are a 2006 self-titled show at the Speed Museum in Louisville, Ky. Others include: "The Hayward Flag Project" (2007, Hayward Gallery, London); "Le jardin d'amour" (2007, Musee de quai Branly, Paris); "Scratch the Surface" (2007, National Portrait Gallery, London); and the film "Odile and Odette" at the Savannah College of Art and Design, ACA Gallery, in Atlanta. The film will also be featured in the WMU exhibit.

In fall 2008, Shonibare was also the subject of a mid-career retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, which traveled to the Brooklyn Museum and Washington, D.C. He was awarded the prestigious title of Member of the British Empire in 2005.

For more information, contact the Frostic School of Art Exhibitions Office at (269) 387-2455.

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Media contact: Don Desmett, (269) 387-2455, donald.desmett@wmich.edu

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