14 november 2014

Yinka Shonibare #4


Shonibare in his London studio. (bron: Public Walls, foto: James Mollison)








Yinka Shonibare with studio manager, Ann Marie Peña, in the artist's London studio, 2008.


(bron: Art21)




Shonibare at work with his assistants.

"Hossein Amirsadeghi: What role does the studio play in your work?

Yinka Shonibare: The studio is something productive for me, but not only in relation to the creation of art objects. It is divided into two parts. The top part is where I do my production meetings and my drawings and paintings. But I also have a project space, which I see as an essential part of my practice—it has a more performative element to it that involves a wider constituency and public than just having a studio where you work. I have a proposal box outside. Young artists put proposals there and I select three projects a year. The studio is also a space where seminars happen and performances and film screenings. So I don’t have the kind of old-fashioned studio where the artist works. This is a space for the exploration of ideas. It therefore has a broader remit than just my needs.

Does location matter?

The location of the studio is essential. It is in the East End of London, where a lot of artists work. So artists passing by can drop in and look at the show and look at my project space, and I can get feedback from them.

There was a time when my studio was primarily in my house and mostly in my head. That wasn’t out of choice; it was because I didn’t have the resources to set up a studio. It’s essential that the studio is separate from where I sleep, from my home. I get a fresher outlook when I come into the studio, and that is partly down to the broader context with which the studio engages.
....
Do you think of your studio as a sanctuary?

The notion of “sanctuary” sounds a bit romantic and melancholic, and there’s a kind of isolation about it. My studio is the opposite of that. There are four of us working in the studio on a full-time basis, and then other people coming and going. So my studio is very much a mini-community. A sanctuary seems a bit elitist and separatist—that wouldn’t be my idea of a studio.
....
So is the studio a space in which to play out the challenges you face, for example when making public sculpture commissions?

In the studio we produce virtual scenarios on the computer so we can get a sense of scale before we make the proposals. Just to give you an idea of how that aspect of the studio works: I have a production assistant who is in charge of co-ordinating the production of work and also making some things as well; she trained as a prop maker. Then there’s my personal assistant, who deals with the administrative side; she also organises the project space downstairs. Then I have my studio manager.

The role of the studio manager is to be the ambassador, if you like, for the studio. For all external constituencies or meetings, she is the person they approach first. She also deals with the four galleries I work with. Of course, I have overall directorial control of the studio, but I also do some drawings, collages, and paintings here, so it functions on a number of levels." (bron: Forecast Public Art, foto's: Robin Friend)


"After winding its way through the narrow streets of East London, a taxi drops us at the metal doorway of a rather nondescript brick building with the words Sunbury House in large letters on the façade. We’ve arrived at Yinka Shonibare’s studio to interview the artist and create a film to promote his upcoming exhibition, Yinka Shonibare MBE: Magic Ladders.

The ground floor is a large space devoted to guest projects including exhibitions, performances, and events. Upstairs, the sunny, smallish studio serves as the artist’s office and creative hub. It’s filled with fabrics of every hue and pattern, taxidermy, drawings, books, and a large calendar showing exhibitions and social engagements. Proudly displayed is Shonibare’s Member of the British Empire award, from Queen Elizabeth II. Many of the objects in the studio are identifiable from his art: a white owl on a string circles eerily above a bookshelf, a fox stares at a doorway. Nothing is unintentional; everything is part of the magic.
...." (bron: The Barnes Foundation)

> Yinka Shonibare

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