Yinka Shonibare

Clementia, 2018

Through beguiling sculptures, Yinka Shonibare sparks a state of charged curiosity, inviting consideration of narratives of power and reinvention in relation to the rise and fall of Western empires and the struggles for African independence. Embellished in Dutch wax batik, or so-called “African” textiles, Shonibare transforms the classical white marble bodies of historical figures and symbols associated with the Roman and British Empires into vibrant sculptures, placing the pattern directly onto the skin. In doing so, he brings the ideological implications of the textile into dialogue with the traditions and authority of classical sculpture.

This sculpture depicts Clementia, the Roman goddess and personification of mercy, clemency and forgiveness. Associated with leniency, redemption, absolution and salvation, Clementia embodied the humane tempering of power through compassion and restraint. By reimagining this classical figure through the visual language of Dutch wax textiles, Shonibare complicates inherited narratives of empire, identity and virtue, while drawing attention to the global histories of trade, colonialism and cultural exchange embedded within both the fabric and the form.

Shonibare places the pattern directly onto the skin, this deftly denies any notion of race and concentrates our attention on the movement of the pattern-adorned body and its connotations of sexuality, athleticism and the ideal body.