Criminal Ornamentation is a Hayward Touring / Arts Council Collection group exhibition curated by Yinka Shonibare MBE.
Celebrated British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare MBE is renowned for his eye-popping use of colour and pattern in works that play with ideas of cultural appropriation. Shonibare has long been interested in exploring art historical and postcolonial themes whilst pushing the boundaries of accepted ‘good taste’.
This publication offers a unique insight into Shonibare’s world-view. Provocatively riffing on Adolf Loos’s highly influential anti-decoration lecture, Ornament and Crime the artist selects works from the Arts Council Collection and other major collections that surprise us, dazzle us, and make us think. Ranging from sculpture and painting to fashion and design, these works tell a story of objects that refuse to be confined.
With an introduction by Shonibare, a contextual essay by writer and curator Michelle Kuo and short texts on Textiles, Craft, Nature and Pattern, this publication offers a bold new perspective on how we look at art.
Artists featured in the show include the Boyle Family, Susan Derges, Alexander McQueen, Bridget Riley, and Bedwyr Williams, among others.
Published alongside a touring show at Attenborough Arts, Leicester (21 September – 16 December 2018); RAMM, Exeter (19 January – 16 March 2019); Longside Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park (5 April – 16 June 2019); Southampton Art Gallery (27 June – 28 September 2019).