The Swing
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So, how does this late eighteenth century French piece connect with a British born Nigerian artist three centuries later?¹ Yinka Shonibare shared his opinion by creating The Swing (after Fragonard).
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In a Khan Academy article, Shonibare incorporated cultural symbols to comment on the condition of the wealthy that lead to events such as the French Revolution. The material he used for the dress has a history of being exchanged in African markets although was produced by the Dutch, which outsourced from its colonies. The connection of the fabric to imperialism is part of what Shonibare explored. The combination of these fabrics and the Rococo painting in Shonibare’s work narrowed in on the issue of leisure, a sign of class divisions. In the article, Shonibare is quoted:
This is the reality behind the fairytale setting of The Swing. I have to recognize that while love is put on display like that, it is not realistic. Often, a setting and story like The Swing is reserved for the privileged few, at least it was a few in the eighteenth century. Shonibare’s commentary hasn’t become any less relevant today. How much time do you get to have on your hands? Who has provided it for you? And lastly, what are you doing with it?While the leisure pursuit might look frivolous (…) my depiction of it is a way of engaging in that power. It is actually an expression of something much more profoundly serious insofar as the accumulation of wealth and power that is personified in leisure was no doubt a product of exploiting people. (Young)
¹ Young, Allision. “Yinka Shonibare, The Swing (After Fragonard) (Article).” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, 2014, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/global-contemporary-apah/21st-century-apah/a/yinka-shonibare-the-swing-after-fragonard.