On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Climate Shit Drawing 1

Print
2008 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Yinka Shonibare (born 1962, in London, to Nigerian parents) is best known for his work with 'African' fabrics (Dutch batik cotton cloth), which he has used to create single life-sized figures and tableaux based on historic English paintings by artist such as Hogarth and Gainsborough, thus bringing together traditions from both cultures.

This is from his first print edition. It marks a departure from an explicit referencing of the two cultures, but it shares the exuberant decoration of the earlier works, with use of gold pigment and with the addition of collage elements. The subject matter here is political in a broad sense, addressing the issue of climate change which has implications for all of us. By including scraps of the Financial Times newspaper, and images of aircraft, Shonibare suggests that globalisation, the increasing interdependency of national economies, and the growth of air travel and trade (air-lifting flowers and vegetables from Africa to the UK, for example) are all parts of the bigger picture behind the manifestations of climate change.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleClimate Shit Drawing 1 (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Four-colour lithograph with silkscreen glaze, collage with fabric and foils, on paper
Brief description
Yinka Shonibare: Climate Shit Drawing 1, 2008. Mixed media print
Physical description
Portrait format image with collage effect of aeroplanes, flowers, and fragments of the Financial Times newspaper.
Dimensions
  • Height: 500mm
  • Width: 340mm
Copy number
99/200
Marks and inscriptions
  • Yinka Shonibare 2008 (signature and date)
  • 99/200 (edition number)
Gallery label
(29/04/2014)
Shonibare built up a complex image by adding cut-outs of fabric, newsprint (the distinctive pink of the Financial Times) and images of faeces to a drawing. It alludes to globalisation, pollution and financial crisis. The scraps of wax-print cloth (made in Europe for the African market), and the motifs of aeroplanes suggest the interdependency of national economies, and the factors fuelling climate change.
Subjects depicted
Summary
Yinka Shonibare (born 1962, in London, to Nigerian parents) is best known for his work with 'African' fabrics (Dutch batik cotton cloth), which he has used to create single life-sized figures and tableaux based on historic English paintings by artist such as Hogarth and Gainsborough, thus bringing together traditions from both cultures.

This is from his first print edition. It marks a departure from an explicit referencing of the two cultures, but it shares the exuberant decoration of the earlier works, with use of gold pigment and with the addition of collage elements. The subject matter here is political in a broad sense, addressing the issue of climate change which has implications for all of us. By including scraps of the Financial Times newspaper, and images of aircraft, Shonibare suggests that globalisation, the increasing interdependency of national economies, and the growth of air travel and trade (air-lifting flowers and vegetables from Africa to the UK, for example) are all parts of the bigger picture behind the manifestations of climate change.
Collection
Accession number
E.161-2009

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Record createdApril 16, 2009
Record URL
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