1 - 29 May 2024

How does Yinka Shonibare CBE make his prints?

1 - 29 May 2024

How does Yinka Shonibare CBE make his prints?

"When I joined Cristea Roberts Gallery, I was making screenprints. The idea of woodcuts came about because they encouraged me to experiment.”

Yinka Shonibare's prints begin with a drawing made by the artist on a large tablet with a digital pen. The image is transferred to an incised block of wood. The block is then cut up using a jigsaw and the separate pieces are inked up.

The blocks are assembled and paper, which has already been printed in one colour, is placed against the surface of the blocks and run through a printing press. Shonibare often layers colours in his woodcuts, with one colour emerging through another.

Once the printing process is complete, cuts are made in the paper where Dutch wax printed cotton is collaged. The batik cotton in each copy of the edition is a different pattern or configuration.

This fabric has become a leitmotif for everything Shonibare wants to say about identity, politics, colonialism and postcolonialism. The fabric was originally produced by Dutch merchants, taking inspiration from Indonesian batik designs. In the nineteenth century it was traded to West Africa, where it remains popular today.

Several prints have been additionally collaged with Financial Times newspaper as a commentary on international economic dynamics. Shonibare explains, “It represents the kind of Western economic power against ethnic expression and the relationship of power to the colonies.”

Shonibare’s woodcuts are printed at Thumbprint Editions, London

Available Prints

Click each image

African Bird Magic I-V, 2023

Available as a set or individually
Please click each image

<span class="artist"><strong>Yinka Shonibare CBE</strong></span>, <span class="title"><em>African Bird Magic I</em>, 2023</span>

<span class="artist"><strong>Yinka Shonibare CBE</strong></span>, <span class="title"><em>African Bird Magic II</em>, 2023</span>

<span class="artist"><strong>Yinka Shonibare CBE</strong></span>, <span class="title"><em>African Bird Magic III</em>, 2023</span>

<span class="artist"><strong>Yinka Shonibare CBE</strong></span>, <span class="title"><em>African Bird Magic IV</em>, 2023</span>

<span class="artist"><strong>Yinka Shonibare CBE</strong></span>, <span class="title"><em>African Bird Magic V</em>, 2023</span>

Modern Spiritual, 2023

Available as a set or individually
Please click each image

<span class="artist"><strong>Yinka Shonibare CBE</strong></span>, <span class="title"><em>Modern Spiritual I</em>, 2023</span>

<span class="artist"><strong>Yinka Shonibare CBE</strong></span>, <span class="title"><em>Modern Spiritual II</em>, 2023</span>

<span class="artist"><strong>Yinka Shonibare CBE</strong></span>, <span class="title"><em>Modern Spiritual III</em>, 2023</span>

Modern Magic, 2021

Available as a set or individually
Please click each image

<span class="artist"><strong>Yinka Shonibare CBE</strong></span>, <span class="title"><em>Modern Magic I</em>, 2021</span>

<span class="artist"><strong>Yinka Shonibare CBE</strong></span>, <span class="title"><em>Modern Magic II</em>, 2021</span>

<span class="artist"><strong>Yinka Shonibare CBE</strong></span>, <span class="title"><em>Modern Magic III</em>, 2021</span>

<span class="artist"><strong>Yinka Shonibare CBE</strong></span>, <span class="title"><em>Modern Magic IV</em>, 2021</span>

<span class="artist"><strong>Yinka Shonibare CBE</strong></span>, <span class="title"><em>Modern Magic V</em>, 2021</span>

Unstructured Icons, 2018

Available as a set or individually
Please click each image

<p><span class="artist"><strong>Yinka Shonibare CBE</strong></span>, <span class="title"><em>Aristocrat I</em>, 2018</span></p>

<span class="artist"><strong>Yinka Shonibare CBE</strong></span>, <span class="title"><em>Aristocrat II</em>, 2018</span>

<span class="artist"><strong>Yinka Shonibare CBE</strong></span>, <span class="title"><em>King</em>, 2018</span>

<span class="artist"><strong>Yinka Shonibare CBE</strong></span>, <span class="title"><em>Power</em>, 2018</span>

<span class="artist"><strong>Yinka Shonibare CBE</strong></span>, <span class="title"><em>Queen I</em>, 2018</span>

<span class="artist"><strong>Yinka Shonibare CBE</strong></span>, <span class="title"><em>Queen II</em>, 2018</span>

Several of the illustrated woodcut prints are currently on show in Shonibare’s solo exhibition, Suspended States, at the Serpentine, London, until 1 September 2024.

Get in touch if you have questions about Yinka Shonibare CBE's prints or would like to come in and see them.

Click here

Portrait © Yinka Shonibare CBE Studio, London. Photo: Tom Jamieson, 2023

All footage filmed at Thumbprint Editions, London, 2023 © Cristea Roberts Gallery, London

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

Cristea Roberts Gallery

Tuesday - Friday: 11am - 5.30pm
Saturday: 11am - 2pm
Closed Monday, Sunday and public holidays
Closed 22 December 2024 - 1 January 2025

Get in touch

+44 (0)20 7439 1866
info@cristearoberts.com

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How does Yinka Shonibare CBE make his prints?

How does Yinka Shonibare CBE make his prints?

Yinka Shonibare's prints begin with a drawing made by the artist on a large tablet with a digital pen. The image is transferred to an incised block of wood. The block is then cut up using a jigsaw and the separate pieces are inked up.

The blocks are assembled and paper, which has already been printed in one colour, is placed against the surface of the blocks and run through a printing press. Shonibare often layers colours in his woodcuts, with one colour emerging through another.

Once the printing process is complete, cuts are made in the paper where Dutch wax printed cotton is collaged. The batik cotton in each copy of the edition is a different pattern or configuration.

Several prints have been additionally collaged with Financial Times newspaper as a commentary on international economic dynamics. Shonibare explains, “It represents the kind of Western economic power against ethnic expression and the relationship of power to the colonies.”

Shonibare’s woodcuts are printed at Thumbprint Editions, London

Available Prints

Click each image

African Bird Magic I-V, 2023

Modern Spiritual, 2023

Modern Magic, 2021

Unstructured Icons, 2018

Several of the illustrated woodcut prints are currently on show in Shonibare’s solo exhibition, Suspended States, at the Serpentine, London, until 1 September 2024.

Get in touch if you have questions about Yinka Shonibare CBE's prints or would like to come in and see them.

Click here

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