New York Toy Painting, 2012 by Yinka Shonibare CBE RA

Born in London.
His family moved back to Lagos, Nigeria at 3yrs old.
He can speak the languages Yoruba and English.
He loved art in school, he always wanted to be an artist.
He moved back to London to go to art school when he was a teenager.
3 weeks into the course he became poorly and has been in a wheel chair since.
He didn’t let his disability stop him. He went back to art school.
His tutor said to him ‘why are you creating art about Russian culture? You are African’ he was baffled by this.
Yinkas artwork now explores the relationship between different countries.
He asks us to think twice about culture and history.
He likes to paint, photograph, dance, sculpt and film.
He celebrates lots of cultures at once.

Info credit
https://www.tate.org.uk/kids/explore/who-is/who-yinka-shonibare

Image Credits
Twenty-seven canvases with Dutch wax printed cotton textiles and acrylic emulsion, wire, toys on painted wall
250 × 620 × 16 cm
© Yinka Shonibare CBE. All Rights Reserved, DACS / Artimage
Photographer: Stephen White & Co.