Review

A review of Yinka Shonibare MBE's Mother and Father Worked Hard So I Can Play

Yinka Shonibare MBE (b. United Kingdom, 1962), "Boy with Marionette," life-size fiberglass mannequin, Dutch wax printed cotton, mixed media; 44 1/2" x 19" x 42", 2009; Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan Gallery, New York. Photo: Jason Mandella 2009.152, courtesy of Saint Louis Art Museum

Saint Louis Art Museum
St. Louis, Missouri
December 18, 2009 — July 5, 2010

When visiting period rooms in any museum, you tend to know what to expect: a gorgeous piano here, an antique armoire there … .But the last thing you would imagine to see is a child playing in the midst of perfectly kept American and European household settings.

That’s why the current installation by Yinka Shonibare MBE at the Saint Louis Art Museum is so intriguing. Mother and Father Worked Hard So I Can Play is a compilation of seven life-size fiberglass mannequins of children playing. The installations are whimsically dispersed throughout the museum’s lower-level period rooms.

The mannequins, which are all eerily headless, don’t jump out at you at first glance. Stare too long at the patterned carpet in the Salem Room and you might overlook the boy with a similarly patterned jacket in mid-headstand. Boy Doing Headstand is frozen in time just like the period room that is his playground.

Yinka Shonibare MBE (b. United Kingdom, 1962), "Seated Girl," life-size fiberglass mannequin, Dutch wax printed cotton, mixed media; 29" x 17 3/4" x 29", 2009 inches; Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan Gallery, New York. Photo: Jason Mandella 2009.147, courtesy of Saint Louis Art Museum

You can feel the movement in these pieces and in some cases even see it. Linger in the English Room and notice that Boy with Marionette is not static. He kneels on one of the antique English chairs and hangs over its back, playing puppet master to his marionette below. Blame it on a constant slight breeze in the room, but it’s surreal that the marionette does in fact move.

Who are these kids? Why do they get to play in these rooms while I just watch behind the glass barrier? These are the questions I found myself asking. There is a kind of jealousy the viewer feels that these children, although not real, get to interact with these delicate and temperature-controlled settings. The kids are both mischievous and daring.

Some of the young figures are playing harmless indoor activities, such as Boy Playing with Marbles and Girl Playing with Doll. Others, like Girl on Scooter and Skipping Girl, are any delicate room’s worst fear — but behind the appearance of childish play lie multiple layers that speak more about Shonibare as an artist.

That the figures are all headless and of no explicit or specific race leaves room for interpretation.

Shonibare recently spoke about his works on the latest season of Art:21, a PBS documentary series about contemporary visual art in the US. “Things are not always what they seem,” Shonibare says. “I sort-of enjoy working with that.”

Although the race of the children is uncertain, there is a clear referral to class in Shonibare’s works. The period rooms where the children play are representations of the upper class's lifestyles and often during times of Western imperialism. Someone, whether parents, grandparents or ancient ancestors, worked hard so that these children could play and be carefree.

In his interview for Art:21, Shonibare said he was fascinated by class.

"My great, great-grandfather was a Nigerian chief,” he relates. “My father was a lawyer, so I grew up really in a fairly affluent situation because I didn’t grow up feeling inferior to anyone. So, I couldn’t really understand the hierarchy of race in this country because it was kind of alien to me.”

Yinka Shonibare MBE (b. United Kingdom, 1962), "Boy Doing Headstand," life-size fiberglass mannequin, Dutch wax printed cotton, mixed media; 27 1/2" x 33" x 30 1/2", 2009; Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan Gallery, New York. Photo: Jason Mandella 2009.150, courtesy of Saint Louis Art Museum

The clothing of the mannequins also alludes to class. The style of the garments — knickerbockers and jackets for the boys and dresses for the girls — is Victorian. However, the bright patterned Dutch wax fabrics they wear actually were produced in the Netherlands in the 19th century and marketed to West Africa as items the colonized would relate to and enjoy. Shonibare shares in this multilayered history as a British-born man of Nigerian descent.

Because of the ambiguities and unclear history presented by Shonibare’s mannequins, the period rooms are rendered far more interesting and complex. The child-figures are reminders that life once happened in the environments recreated in a pristine and untouchable fashion — and that history is not one-dimensional.

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