Review of Suspended States at Serpentine Galleries: a solo exhibition of Yinka Shonibare CBE

Suspended States is British Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare’s first institutional exhibition in London for over 20 years and features new and recent artworks across a diverse array of media: from sculptures and installations to pictorial quilts and woodcut prints.

Yinka Shonibare CBE: Suspended States, 2024. Installation view, Serpentine South. © Yinka Shonibare CBE 2024. Photo: © Jo Underhill. Courtesy Yinka Shonibare CBE and Serpentine.

The artworks exhibited in Suspended States relate to Shonibare’s ongoing exploration of the legacies of colonial power, sites of refuge and shelter. Two new installations created for the exhibition are Sanctuary City and The War Library. In the former, miniature models of notable buildings that have been used as places of refuge are installed alongside one another, united through purpose and the use of the artist’s signature Dutch wax prints for the models’ interiors. Illuminated by internal lights in an otherwise dark room, the works invite contemplation on the contemporary shelter crisis around the world which the artist describes as “one of the most pressing political concerns right now”. In The War Library, attention shifts to the related topic of global conflict, through the striking presentation of 5,000 books bound in Dutch wax print, all relating to wars and peace treaties. 

Yinka Shonibare CBE: Suspended States, 2024. Installation view, Serpentine South. © Yinka Shonibare CBE 2024. Photo: © Jo Underhill. Courtesy Yinka Shonibare CBE and Serpentine.

Also on display are a number of works from Shonibare’s series Decolonised Structures, in which the artist presents painted, scaled-down replicas of public monuments in London, questioning the role such statues play in the public realm and the relationship between coloniser and colonised. That complex issue is further negotiated in Unstructured Icons and Cowboy Angels, which see African masks superimposed over Western authorities. Throughout, Shonibare encourages viewers to question the nebulous networks of power and colonial legacies that inform the city and world around us.

Yinka Shonibare CBE: Suspended States, 2024. Installation view, Serpentine South. © Yinka Shonibare CBE 2024. Photo: © Jo Underhill. Courtesy Yinka Shonibare CBE and Serpentine.

Commenting on the timely significance of the exhibition, the artist said: “My work has always been about the crossing of boundaries; geographically, visually, historically, and conceptually… This is an exhibition in which Western iconography is reimagined and interrogated, at a moment in history when nationalism, protectionism and hostility towards foreigners is on the rise.”

Date: 12 April - 1 September 2024. Location: Serpentine South Gallery, Hyde Park, London, W2 3XA. Price: Free. Website:serpentinegalleries.org.

Words by Sofia Carriea Wham