Overview
For its inaugural exhibition, The Box presents 'Kehinde Wiley: Ship of Fools'. The show includes the three-channel digital film projection 'Narrenschiff' (Ship of Fools), which joined the museum's collection in 2018 thanks to the Contemporary Art Society Collections Fund at Frieze.
Kehinde Wiley's 'Narrenchiff' (Ship of Fools) is a portrait of a group of Black men at sea, struggling to reach the land – a metaphor for both historical and contemporary histories of migration. The film features an original score by composer Maxim Budnick and is narrated by acclaimed actress CCH Pounder. The work is titled after a 15th Century book in The Box's Cottonian Collection by German theologian Sebastian Brant, which is also on display. This book satirized politicians, clerics and other well-known or influential people and was a huge success at the time, narrating the story of a crew lost at sea.
The exhibition also includes a selection of works that demonstrate the breadth and diversity of Wiley's practice. The artist's large-scale painting 'Ship of Fools', 2017 which is part of the same body of works as 'Narrenschiff', is on loan from Royal Museums Greenwich, London. Also featured in the exhibition is 'Alexander Cassatt', a painting of the same year which portrays the seventh president of the Pennsylvania Railroad between 1899-1906 in the form of a Black man who the artist met through street-casting in Brooklyn, New York. A bronze bust made by the artist in 2015 is also included in the exhibition, depicting American rapper Kanye West.
To book your free ticket please register via one of the following links:
- General Admission (free for all)
- General Admission & the 'Mayflower 400: Legend and Legacy' exhibition (free for Plymouth residents, under 18s and companions / £5 for non-residents 18+)
For its inaugural exhibition, The Box presents 'Kehinde Wiley: Ship of Fools'. The show includes the three-channel digital film projection 'Narrenschiff' (Ship of Fools), which joined the museum's collection in 2018 thanks to the Contemporary Art Society Collections Fund at Frieze.
The Box
Tavistock Place
Plymouth
PL4 8AX
Installation Views
"'Ship of Fools' is a response to the history of Maritime painting, and in a very strong way is about trying to come to terms with the project I have had over the past ten to twelve years, which is to delve into the history of painting: Gainsborough, Turner, Bosch, to delve into those people whose shoulders I try to stand on to justifiably create a space for myself."
– Kehinde Wiley
'Narrenschiff' (Ship of Fools)
![“'[Narrenschiff]' easily becomes a metaphor for migration, [it resonates with] images we see of black bodies moving through water.[...] I...](https://artlogic-res.cloudinary.com/w_1400,h_1400,c_limit,f_webp,fl_lossy,q_auto:good/ws-stephenfriedman/usr/images/feature_panels/image/671/ezgif.com-gif-maker-copy-2.gif)
“'[Narrenschiff]' easily becomes a metaphor for migration, [it resonates with] images we see of black bodies moving through water.[...] I am responding to the society I am given, the timing is not accidental. The work speaks to a society willing to self-destruct instead of seeing itself in a new light. Strangely it’s about Brexit.[...] I was looking at water as a safe place and as scary as hell. It is luxuriant and also something that could throw you into darkness. For me, that was the call to arms."
– Kehinde Wiley
The Art Newspaper, 23 November 2017
