James Cohan Gallery has announced two shows taking place in the New York area featuring the work of acclaimed British-born Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare MBE. Shonibare’s artistic practice explores the construction of cultural identities by examining issues of class, race, and colonialism. He is known for his use of brightly colored wax-resist textiles, often seen clothing headless mannequins in tableaux-style installations, as in How To Blow up Two Heads at Once (Ladies), 2008.

These fabrics were initially associated with the Indonesian archipelago, and were later manufactured in the Netherlands and exported to Africa, where they became a symbol of national pride. Shonibare draws upon this complicated history to show the socioeconomic dominance of Europe established through trade and colonialism. The distinctly Victorian style of dress seen on the mannequins refers to the period of British history when Africa was colonized. The fabric is both a tool for investigating contemporary African identity and a metaphor for the interwoven, and often inequitable, historic nature of a global culture.

The Brooklyn Museum is currently exhibiting the most comprehensive survey of Shonibare’s work to date, featuring over twenty sculptures, paintings, large-scale installations and films. The exhibition was launched at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, Australia, and will later travel to the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C. It will remain on view at the Brooklyn Museum until September 20th. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue which includes an interview conducted by Anthony Downey, Ph.D., Program Director of the M.A. in Contemporary Art at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London.

In addition to this survey exhibition, a site specific installation by Yinka Shonibare MBE is on view at The Newark Museum until January 3, 2010. Party Time: Re-imagine America was commissioned by the museum to celebrate their centennial anniversary. The installation is set in the dining room of the historic Ballantine House, a wing of The Newark Museum since 1937, which was originally built for the prominent Newark brewing family in 1885. The installation recreates a formal dinner party as it could have happened at the time of Jeannette and John Holme Ballantine, for whom the house was built. As stated in the press release, Party Time: Re-imagine America “considers at its core the discrepancy of wealth generated by turn-of-the-century enterprise, where excess and self-indulgence are achieved through the subservience of others.”

Shonibare was born in London in 1962. When he was three, his family moved to Nigeria, but maintained a residence in South London to spend summers. Shonibare attended Goldsmiths College from 1989-1991 (after Byam Shaw School of Art). The artist was short listed for the prestigious Turner Prize in 2004 and designated a Member of the British Empire by Prince Charles.

Shonibare has recently exhibited at James Cohan Gallery in New York as well as the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in California. In addition to the two exhibitions taking place now, the artist also has an upcoming show at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 2010.