Overview
Stephen Friedman Gallery and Goodman Gallery are pleased to announce a collaborative presentation at Art Basel Miami Beach 2025, centred on a significant selection from Yinka Shonibare’s Library collections (2014-2025).
Stephen Friedman Gallery and Goodman Gallery are pleased to announce a collaborative presentation at Art Basel Miami Beach 2025, centred on a significant selection from Yinka Shonibare’s Library collections (2014-2025).
This ongoing landmark installation – one of the artist’s most seminal bodies of work – comprises a series of library environments consisting of thousands of books bound in Dutch wax print, created by Shonibare over several years. The first three Library collections explore ideas of migration, citizenship, and notions of home across the United Kingdom, the United States, and Africa. In 2024, Shonibare unveiled The War Library in his Serpentine exhibition Suspended States, representing both conflict and peace treaties. Over the years, Shonibare’s Library has been presented at numerous institutions globally, including Tate Modern; Museu Afro Brasil, São Paulo; Turner Contemporary, Margate; and it has been shown as part of the Diaspora Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2017.
“It is unusual for a work of this complexity to be shown within the core section of a fair. Our collaboration with Stephen Friedman Gallery gives the Library collections the space and visibility it deserves. It's a project that demands care and collective stewardship. When galleries work together, we create conditions for significant artworks to be viewed and understood in ways that might not otherwise be possible.” – Liza Essers
Stephen Friedman shares: “We are delighted to be collaborating with Goodman Gallery to bring this important work to Miami for the first time. Shonibare's practice embodies community, ritual, and learning—values that resonate deeply with both of our galleries. Presenting a work of this scale and ambition is only possible through genuine collaboration, and we are proud to create the conditions for it to be experienced in a context that invites dialogue and understanding.”
Presented jointly by both galleries for the first time, this iteration of the Library collections echoes the global scope of Shonibare’s project and underscores the importance of cross-institutional partnerships in expanding access to complex installations. In 2026, Shonibare will have several to-be-announced museum exhibitions across the globe, including a major commission debuting at JFK Airport in New York in 2026.
Alongside the installation, each gallery will showcase work from their respective programmes. Stephen Friedman Gallery will present works by Ana Cláudia Almeida, Tonico Lemos Auad, Jonathan Baldock, Sarah Ball, Caroline Coon, Kenturah Davis, Alexandre Diop, Andreas Eriksson, Denzil Forrester, Kendell Geers, Sky Glabush, Wayne Gonzales, Hulda Guzmán, Holly Hendry, Jim Hodges, Ilona Keserü, Deborah Roberts, Anne Rothenstein, Yinka Shonibare, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Caroline Walker, Clare Woods, Yooyun Yang and Luiz Zerbini.
This ongoing landmark installation – one of the artist’s most seminal bodies of work – comprises a series of library environments consisting of thousands of books bound in Dutch wax print, created by Shonibare over several years. The first three Library collections explore ideas of migration, citizenship, and notions of home across the United Kingdom, the United States, and Africa. In 2024, Shonibare unveiled The War Library in his Serpentine exhibition Suspended States, representing both conflict and peace treaties. Over the years, Shonibare’s Library has been presented at numerous institutions globally, including Tate Modern; Museu Afro Brasil, São Paulo; Turner Contemporary, Margate; and it has been shown as part of the Diaspora Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2017.
“It is unusual for a work of this complexity to be shown within the core section of a fair. Our collaboration with Stephen Friedman Gallery gives the Library collections the space and visibility it deserves. It's a project that demands care and collective stewardship. When galleries work together, we create conditions for significant artworks to be viewed and understood in ways that might not otherwise be possible.” – Liza Essers
Stephen Friedman shares: “We are delighted to be collaborating with Goodman Gallery to bring this important work to Miami for the first time. Shonibare's practice embodies community, ritual, and learning—values that resonate deeply with both of our galleries. Presenting a work of this scale and ambition is only possible through genuine collaboration, and we are proud to create the conditions for it to be experienced in a context that invites dialogue and understanding.”
Presented jointly by both galleries for the first time, this iteration of the Library collections echoes the global scope of Shonibare’s project and underscores the importance of cross-institutional partnerships in expanding access to complex installations. In 2026, Shonibare will have several to-be-announced museum exhibitions across the globe, including a major commission debuting at JFK Airport in New York in 2026.
Alongside the installation, each gallery will showcase work from their respective programmes. Stephen Friedman Gallery will present works by Ana Cláudia Almeida, Tonico Lemos Auad, Jonathan Baldock, Sarah Ball, Caroline Coon, Kenturah Davis, Alexandre Diop, Andreas Eriksson, Denzil Forrester, Kendell Geers, Sky Glabush, Wayne Gonzales, Hulda Guzmán, Holly Hendry, Jim Hodges, Ilona Keserü, Deborah Roberts, Anne Rothenstein, Yinka Shonibare, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Caroline Walker, Clare Woods, Yooyun Yang and Luiz Zerbini.
Stand
Booth D15
Location website
Location
Miami Beach Convention Center
1901 Convention Center Drive
Miami Beach, FL 33139
1901 Convention Center Drive
Miami Beach, FL 33139
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