Yinka Shonibare steps into the curator’s seat with a sharp survey of African art
Mayfair gallerist Stephen Friedman has represented British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare for 22 years. Together they have grown to become linchpins of the British art scene, with Friedman having dedicated six solo shows to his Turner Prize-winning friend.
Their latest exhibition, entitled ‘Talisman in the Age of Difference’, celebrates Shonibare as curator. Sticking to themes close to his heart – identity politics, African resistance, the civil rights movement – Shonibare has selected 46 artists of African origin and from across the diaspora for the show, and placed paintings alongside sculpture and drawings spanning the early 20th century to present day.
Installation view of ‘Talisman in the Age of Difference’. Courtesy of Stephen Friedman Gallery, London. Photography: Mark Blower
Big guns such as American sculptor Melvin Edwards and Kehinde Wiley (whose 2017 portrait of Barack Obama was the first of any US President by an African-American) appear alongside lesser-known names such as Lagos-based Temitayo Ogunbiyi, who is transforming former land fill sites in the Nigerian city into childrens’ play parks, and Whitfield Lovell, who creates exquisite charcoal drawings of African-American faces and surrounds them with timeworn, everyday objects.
‘Most people know Yinka as an artist but fewer know him as a curator,’ says Friedman, who was inspired to host the exhibition after seeing Shonibare’s curatorial skills at work at last year’s Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy. ‘A talisman is thought to possess transformative energy, like a lucky charm, a fetish, amulet, mascot or juju,’ he adds. ‘All the work, either consciously or subconsciously, has a subversive or political message and doesn’t necessarily conform to the Western vision of art. Like Yinka, all the artists in the show view their work as talismans, or vehicles for change.’
Shonibare adds, ‘At a time when the extreme right is on the rise, a strong statement like this will resonate beyond the exhibition. ‘It’s important we show our diversity; we sing, we dance, we perform rituals and we want to share them with everybody.’
INFORMATION
‘Talisman in the Age of Difference’ is on view until 21 July. For more information, visit the Stephen Friedman Gallery website
ADDRESS
Stephen Friedman Gallery
25-28 Old Burlington Street
Mayfair
London W1S 3AN
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Emma O'Kelly is a contributing editor at Wallpaper*. She joined the magazine on issue 4 as news editor and since since then has worked in full and part time roles across many editorial departments. She is a freelance journalist based in London and works for a range of titles from Condé Nast Traveller to The Telegraph. She is currently working on a book about Scandinavian sauna culture and is renovating a mid century house in the Italian Lakes.
-
The 2024 Ivor Novello nominations for songwriting have been revealed
77 British and Irish songwriters and composers make up this year's nominees, announced tonight at London's Groucho Club
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
Why Bollinger’s La Grande Année 2015 champagne is worth celebrating
Champagne Bollinger unveils La Grande Année 2015 and La Grande Année Rosé 2015, two outstanding cuvées from an exceptional year in wine-making
By Melina Keays Published
-
Lexus installation explores time at Milan Design Week 2024
Lexus brought designer Hideki Yoshimoto’s ‘Beyond the Horizon’ to Milan’s Art Point, part of its ongoing series of collaborations with Fuorisalone
By Nargess Shahmanesh Banks Published
-
Kembra Pfahler revisits ‘The Manual of Action’ for CIRCA
Artist Kembra Pfahler will lead a series of classes in person and online, with a short film streamed from Piccadilly Circus in London, as well as in Berlin, Milan and Seoul, over three months until 30 June 2024
By Zoe Whitfield Published
-
Guglielmo Castelli considers fragility and violence with painting series in Venice
Guglielmo Castelli’s exhibition ‘Improving Songs for Anxious Children’ at Palazzetto Tito, Venice, explores childhood as the genesis of discovery
By Sofia Hallström Published
-
Yinka Shonibare considers the tangled relationship between Africa and Europe at Serpentine South
Yinka Shonibare‘s ‘Suspended States’ at Serpentine South, London, considers history, refuge and humanitarian support (until 1 September 2024)
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Gavin Turk subverts still-life painting and says: ‘We are what we throw away’
Gavin Turk considers wasteful consumer culture in ‘The Conspiracy of Blindness’ at Ben Brown Fine Arts, London
By Rowland Bagnall Published
-
Dorothy Hepworth and Patricia Preece: Bloomsbury’s untold story
‘Dorothy Hepworth and Patricia Preece: An Untold Story’ is a new exhibition at Charleston in Lewes, UK, that charts the duo's creative legacy
By Katie Tobin Published
-
Don’t miss: Thea Djordjadze’s site-specific sculptures in London
Thea Djordjadze’s ‘framing yours making mine’ at Sprüth Magers, London, is an exercise in restraint
By Hannah Silver Published
-
‘Accordion Fields’ at Lisson Gallery unites painters inspired by London
‘Accordian Fields’ at Lisson Gallery is a group show looking at painting linked to London
By Amah-Rose Abrams Published
-
Fetishism, violence and desire: Alexis Hunter in London
‘Alexis Hunter: 10 Seconds’ at London's Richard Saltoun Gallery focuses on the artist’s work from the 1970s, disrupting sexual stereotypes
By Hannah Silver Published