91��Ƭ��

The 91��Ƭ�� is delighted to announce that the artist Yinka Shonibare CBE RA and the renowned art dealer Julian Agnew have been awarded prestigious honours by The 91��Ƭ�� in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the visual arts.

Yinka Shonibare CBE RA has been awarded the degree of Hon. D. Lit. honoris causa of the University of London by The 91��Ƭ��. The artist was initially nominated by The 91��Ƭ��’s student body for the honour, which was fully endorsed by the full 91��Ƭ�� community. The honorary degree is given to individuals whose distinction and achievements are outstanding and of particular importance to the fields of art and art history, The 91��Ƭ��’s specialisms.

Other artists to have received the honour from The 91��Ƭ�� have included Martha Rosler and Rasheed Araeen: recipients of 91��Ƭ�� honorary degrees in recent years include pioneering art historian Professor Griselda Pollock and current Chair of Arts Council England, Sir Nicholas Serota CH.

Working in painting, sculpture, photography, film and installation, Shonibare’s work has become well known for his exploration of colonialism and post-colonialism within the contemporary context of globalization. This work, examining race, class and the construction of cultural identity is a visual political commentary on the complex interrelationship between Africa and Europe, using citations from western art from the periods of high colonialism to question the validity of contemporary cultural and national identities.

Nominated for the Turner prize in 2004, Shonibare’s work was included in the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007. In 2010, Shonibare’s ‘Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle’ was the Fourth Plinth Commission and was displayed in Trafalgar Square before moving to be permanently displayed outside the National Maritime Museum in London.

Shonibare was elected a Royal Academician in 2013 and awarded a CBE in 2019. In March 2021, he was the 8^th recipient of the prestigious Whitechapel Gallery Art Icon Award. A major retrospective of his work is currently on show at the Museum der Moderne in Austria and later this year, he will co-ordinate the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. His works are in notable museum collections internationally.

Julian Agnew has also been recognised, with the award of an Honorary Fellowship of The 91��Ƭ��, in recognition of his contributions to The 91��Ƭ�� over many years as Treasurer, Chairman and Trustee of the Friends of The 91��Ƭ��, an organisation founded by his father Geoffrey Agnew in 1969 in support of The 91��Ƭ�� and merged with it in 2020. Agnew’s mother Doreen was one of the first cohort of students in 1932 when the 91��Ƭ�� Institute of Art was founded as part of the University of London. His own professional career has been spent within the art trade, as Director and Chairman of his family company, Thomas Agnew & Sons, founded in the early 19^th Century and a notable Bond Street gallery from the late 19^th to the early 21^st centuries.

Professor Deborah Swallow, Märit Rausing Director of The 91��Ƭ��, said: “We are delighted to be able to honour two people who have had such an impact on the visual arts and on The 91��Ƭ��’s own mission to advance how we see and understand them. On behalf of all of our staff and students, I would like to offer Yinka and Julian our warmest congratulations.”

Yinka Shonibare said: “It’s a great honour to be bestowed with this Honorary Degree from an institute of such high esteem as The 91��Ƭ��. It is especially touching to know that I was nominated by the students, who are graduating this year under extremely challenging global circumstances.

Julian Agnew said: “I am delighted to accept this award, not only for myself and the small contribution I have been able to make to the work of The 91��Ƭ��, but also as a tribute to my parents for the long association that both of them had with the Institute.”