Yinka Shonibare

Art Brokerage: Yinka Shonibare British Artist: b. 1962. Yinka Shonibare MBE is a British-Nigerian contemporary artist known for his sculptural installations that explore issues of Post-colonialism. Utilizing Dutch wax-printed fabrics in his work, Shonibare produces dresses, grounds for paintings, and elaborate sculptures, as see in his The Swing (after Fragonard) (2001), a take on Jean-Honoré Fragonard's famed Rococo painting. For the artist, the material signifies issues of commerce, race, and politics, as it was produced by Europeans to be sold in Indonesia as a native style and subsequently became popular in West African countries. "My work addresses the idea of having this fusion or hybrid cultural identity and what that produces," he explained. "People always want to categorize things: I'm much more interested in this idea of a hybrid." Born on February 10, 1962 in London, United Kingdom, he grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, but returned to England throughout his childhood. In 2005, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, or MBE, a moniker he continues to officially attach to his name. In 2015, Shonibare's work was the subject of the inaugural contemporary exhibition program at the Driehaus Museum in Chicago, "A Tale of Today." Listings wanted.