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Thomas Gainsborough, (1727-1788), Mr and Mrs Andrews, ca 1750, Oil on canvas, 69.8 x 119.4 cm, Bought with contributions from the Pilgrim Trust, the National Art Collections Fund, Associated Television Ltd, and Mr and Mrs W. W. Spooner, 1960. |
Shonibare Responds to Works from Era of British Slave Trade |
Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), Colonel Tarleton, 1782, Photograph © National Gallery.
Johann Zoffany (1733?-1810), Mrs. Oswald, ca. 1763-4, Photograph © National Gallery. |
The National Gallery Marking the bicentenary of the Act of Parliament abolishing the transatlantic slave trade, Scratch the Surface explores both the role that the slave trade played in the creation of two works that have subsequently entered the National Gallery's collection, and how the history of these works continues to inspire artists today. This two-part exhibition features two paintings from the Gallery's collection and a stunning installation by 2004 Turner Prize-shortlisted artist Yinka Shonibare MBE, created for this event. The exhibition was curated by Jonah Albert, working with the National Gallery and Arts Council England Inspire Fellowship scheme. The first part of the exhibition, in Room 1, focuses on two paintings usually hung in the Gallery's Barry Rooms. Johann Zoffany's Mrs Oswald (ca. 1763-4) and Sir Joshua Reynolds's Colonel Tarleton (1782) are both dramatic portraits depicting sitters with well-established links to the slave trade. This display will shed new light on these two works from the Gallery's collection. The accompanying wall text, illustrated with maps, contracts, letters and correspondences, will serve to contextualise the role of slavery in the lives of the two sitters. The second half of Scratch the Surface will feature the work of Yinka Shonibare MBE. Born in the UK and raised in Nigeria, Shonibare defines himself as a "cultural hybrid" and questions around identity, race and globalisation inform much of his artistic output. Shonibare has been invited to create a piece in response to the themes and imagery featured in the Room 1 display and has done so with stunning results. Life-size mannequins, dressed in elegant Georgian outfits made from African-influenced textiles, will occupy the spaces where the portraits of Mrs Oswald and Banastre Tarleton normally hang. Both mannequins bear muskets, taking aim at a pheasant suspended from the ceiling. These mannequins, engaged in a pastime characteristic of the social and cultural positions of both Mrs Oswald and Tarleton, wearing period costume fashioned from material featuring traditional African print, are a classic example of Shonibare's subversion of conventional readings of cultural identity. It is not the first time Shonibare has drawn on works within the National Gallery's collection for inspiration — in 1998 he exhibited Mr and Mrs Andrews Without Their Heads, a response to Mr and Mrs Andrews (ca. 1750) by Gainsborough. Shonibare's involvement with this display forms part of National Gallery's commitment to support and display contemporary works. The Gallery gratefully acknowledges the support from Arts Council England, Outset Contemporary Art Fund, and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation in enabling this important display. |
Yinka Shonibare, Diary of a Victorian Dandy: 03.00 Hours, detail, 1998, Diary of a Victorian Dandy was a collision of performance and photography reflecting the nation's popular taste for the period costume drama and nostalgia for a utopian past at the heart of little England. |
