Yinka Shonibare CBE RA features in 'The Piccadilly Art Takeover'

Yinka Shonibare CBE RA features in The Piccadilly Art Takeover, an expansive, outdoor exhibition on view to the public at Piccadilly Circus, London. Vibrant canvases, zebra crossings, and a 720 square-metre film transform this busy junction at the heart of the city. Other UK leading artists featured include Vanessa Jackson, Isaac Julien, Farshid Moussavi and Michael Armitage. The project is a partnership between Royal Academy of Arts and Art of London. 

Shonibare’s design for the installation incorporates the winged, nude statue of Antereros, famously situated on top of the Shaftesbury Memorial Foundation, central to Piccadilly Circus. Anteros was the Greek god of requited love or ‘love returned’, and the avenger of unrequited love. Traditionally depicted with a lead bow or a golden club, Shonibare’s interpretation features a flower instead of an arrow. The harlequin background motif is synonymous with the acrobatic ‘trickster’ and features the artist’s signature brightly coloured, batik fabric. The fabric speaks to the hybrid nature of national and cultural origins and the interdependence of the economic and political histories of Africa and Europe.