Art: Yinka Shonibare CBE at Dreihaus Museum

I love what the Dreihaus Museum is doing in Chicago. This is something near and dear to my heart. They are putting contemporary art inside period homes in a way that makes sense contextually. Of course the Dreihaus Museum is not the first historic house that shows contemporary art, but this is the first time I’ve seen it done it in a way that complimented the artist’s work!

Text from their website: The inaugural exhibition in the Driehaus Museum’s new contemporary art series, A Tale of Today, focuses on Yinka Shonibare CBE, an artist who draws on history, politics, and fashion influences to explore and critique our understanding of the past with equal doses of humor, irony and theatrics playfully woven in. All of the British-Nigerian artist’s work reflects the intersection of his English and African heritage and, in his own words, is “about raising questions rather than answering them.”

This exhibition features the artist’s earlier work, from photography series to sculpture installations. It is presented within the context of one of America’s great Gilded Age mansions - the Driehaus Museum’s home - creating compelling juxtapositions that will reveal new perspectives on both the art and its setting.

A Tale of Today provides opportunities for audiences to see the history of the Gilded Age through different lenses, and explore the social, class, racial and economic issues that make that history relevant to society now.