Yinka Shonibare

Shonibare, MBE, Yinka
Shonibare, Yinka CBE

British, born 1962

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A headless mannequin of a person dressed in a colorful, patterned gown balances on a globe of the Earth in this free-standing sculpture. The person has medium-brown skin and, in this photograph, her body faces our right in profile. She balances on one foot, which is planted near the Arctic Circle, and her other foot is raised behind her, as if running. Her arms are lifted, palms facing outward. The bodice of her dress is mustard yellow with a swirling green and blue pattern running down the sleeve we can see. The cuffs and hem are trimmed with ruffles striped in navy blue, yellow, and white, some with thin, horizonal blue lines. The same fabric is gathered in horizontal pleats down the front of the dress. The rest of the skirt is a mix of maroon-red fabric decorated with geometric patterns in pumpkin orange, teal green, golden yellow, and ginger brown. The fabric is gathered up like a bustle at the girl’s lower back. Her ankle boots are made from the fabric patterned in blue, yellow, white, and maroon. Much of the globe is covered in areas of honey yellow and marigold orange. A few areas have darker red zones, including a rust-red band curving from Western to Southern Africa. Smaller, even darker zones are nested over the southern part of that continent. A zone of crimson red covers much of Iran and Afghanistan, and reaches into Russia and the surrounding areas, at the top of the globe. The sculpture sits on a hardwood floor and is shown against a white wall.
Yinka Shonibare, Girl on Globe 2, 2011, fiberglass mannequin, Dutch wax printed cotton, and globe, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, by exchange: William A. Clark Collection), 2015.19.3962

Girl on Globe 2

Yinka Shonibare · 2011 · fiberglass mannequin, Dutch wax printed cotton, and globe ·  Accession ID  2015.19.3962