BRONZE (BLUE & RED) 2018

This sculptural piece, Bronze (Blue & Red), by Yinka Shonibare, is made with Dutch wax printed cotton cloth over fibreglass cast. At first glance, it’s this crazy explosion of color and pattern; reds, purples, greens all crashing together. But look closer, and you’ll see how controlled that apparent chaos actually is. Shonibare’s got an amazing eye for how these colors bounce off each other. It’s not just random; there’s a rhythm, a pulse, like a really loud, slightly off-kilter dance party. The Dutch wax print is so key. It’s this fabric that's become a symbol of cultural hybridity, and it’s interesting to see that the folds and curves are frozen, fixed in place, which is an odd contrast to the energy that the color brings. Shonibare’s work is like a conversation and is similar to artists like Jeffrey Gibson. It embraces those in-between spaces. It reminds us that art, at its best, is a space where fixed meanings just dissolve.