IMPALED ARISTOCRAT 2013

This vibrant, unsettling sculpture, "Impaled Aristocrat," was made by Yinka Shonibare. It's got this shocking gesture of the figure being impaled, but then it's softened, even made humorous, by the textile. Shonibare uses these "African" fabrics, but they’re actually Dutch wax prints, mass-produced in Europe and sold in Africa. It's a real process of layering, of mis-translation, of hybridity. And isn’t that just the story of culture? The sword cutting through the back is so literal and unreal all at once. How to deal with history? Maybe that's what Shonibare is asking. It's not just tragedy, but a kind of campy performance. This makes me think of some of the history paintings of Goya, but through a contemporary lens. It embraces ambiguity, suggesting the past is never fixed, and its meanings are always up for grabs.