Self Portrait (after Warhol) 6

Yinka Shonibare’s work explores issues of race and class through painting, sculpture, photography and film. Having described himself as a ‘post-colonial’ hybrid, Shonibare questions the meaning of cultural and national definitions. His trademark material is the brightly coloured ‘African’ batik fabric he buys at Brixton Market. The fabric was inspired by Indonesian design, mass-produced by the Dutch and eventually sold in British colonies in West Africa. In the 1960s, the material became a new sign of African identity and independence.

Self Portrait (after Warhol) 6 uses the imagery of Shonibare’s trademark wax batik fabric overlaid across an intimate portrait of the artist’s face. Rich in colour and texture, it is a homage to Andy Warhol’s iconic Camouflage painting of 1986. Shonibare puts himself into the frame with a subtly psychological take on the genre of selfportraiture, his identity reflected in the material of his work whilst he also becomes both central to it and disguised by it. Revolution Kid (Calf, 2012) continues Shonibare’s exploration of race and class through the use of taxidermy, technology and textiles. Instead of his typical headless mannequins, Shonibare has assigned this figure the head of a calf in order to express the youthful spirit of revolution.