From the dandy with black skin to astronauts and aliens dressed in typical African colors and materials, Yinka Shonibare addresses issues of cultural identity in his artistic research with irony. In October 2013 Shonibare took part in Art Wars at the The Goodman Gallery announced in 2018 that the Norval Foundation, South Africa's newest art museum based in Shonibare has collaborated with Shonibare's first solo exhibition was in 1989 at Shonibare's disability has increased with age resulting in him using Shonibare contracted transverse myelitis, an inflammation of the spinal cord, at the age of 18, which resulted in a long-term physical disability where one side of his body is paralysed. Photographer: Stephen White 1962), notably a shared interest in education, social mobility, scientific and cultural discovery. A key material in Shonibare's work since 1994 is the brightly coloured "African" fabric (Dutch wax-printed cotton) that he buys himself from Brixton market in London. "They prove to have a crossbred cultural background quite of their own. "But actually, the fabrics are not really authentically African the way people think," says Shonibare. This installation is a library made up of over 6,000 books covered in fabric. Get this from a library! Dimensions: 169.5 x 106 x 46 cm. Looking up-- : Yinka Shonibare, MBE. Shonibare claims that the fabrics were first manufactured in Europe to sell in Indonesian markets and then they were sold in Africa, when they were rejected in Indonesia.Shonibare is well-known for creating headless, life-size sculptural figures meticulously positioned and dressed in vibrant wax cloth patterns in order for history and racial identity to be made complex and difficult to read.Sometimes, he recreates famous paintings using headless dummies with the "Africanised" clothing instead of their original costumes, for example Shonibare also takes carefully posed photographs and videos recreating famous British paintings or stories from literature but with himself taking centre stage as an alternative, black British dandy, e.g., Considerably larger than a usual Other works include printed ceramics, and cloth-covered shoes, upholstery, walls and bowls. Girl Balancing Knowledge IV, 2018 Medium: Fibreglass mannequin, Dutch wax printed cotton textile, books, globe, and steel baseplate. Drawing from his own experience growing up in the U.K. and Nigeria, Yinka Shonibare investigates political and social histories related to post-colonialism and globalization, reconfiguring iconic imagery from the Western art-historical canon with a playful and ironic touch. Three walls of the gallery are taken up with shelves of 6,328 books.