Yinka Shonibare gave an excellent lecture at the Hirshhorn. He is definitely what I would call an 'artist's artist', as he made no attempt to appease the crowd (especially the historians and critics) or worry with political correctness. When asked about the Black Gold series, and why he chose to make two of them, the curator asking the question was obviously fishing for some sort of deep conceptual aspect of the work to elucidate for the eager audience. Shonibare replied matter-of-factly that he made two because he wanted to sell them. To make money. It was such an honest answer that I think no one could hold that against him, for he obviously does draw on deeply held beliefs and grapple with personal issues when he makes his work. And he knew exactly when to end the playful banter and answer a question with a bit of sober honesty, and just lightly touch on issues of race, equality, and bigotry.
Shonibare's persona falls perfectly in line with his work...somehow both serious and playful, funny, amusing, but more than a little weird. I will even say, fucked up. He mentioned that the movie The Cook, the Thief, his Wife, and her Lover served for inspiration for his own film, which delighted me. It's one of my favorite movies; its intense weirdness is surpassed only by the beauty of its cinematography. And yes, it is available on Netflix.
Well how did I get from costumed astronauts to genital eating thieves? I'm not sure, but it made sense in my head, and I am sure Shonibare would be ok with that. He spent a good deal of time complaining about how people often are upset by contradictions they see in his work. He explained that artists don't always have to make sense, which was an unpretentious way of pointing out that paradox and contradiction are deeply embedded in reality and make for a richer experience with the art. He ended his talk with little fanfare with a statement that was equally simple, but worthy of going into my notebook with quotation marks and a date..."I make the art I want to see". Could it be I actually learned something tonight?