Posted April 17, 2026

At its annual dinner on Thursday, April 16, Vero Beach Museum of Art Athena Society Members voted to acquire Wind Sculpture in Bronze VI, 2025, by Yinka Shonibare, CBE (British Nigerian, b. 1962). The hand-painted bronze statue, standing 78 ¾ x 59 x 54 inches, is unique in a series of nine. Its significance is underscored by the recent acquisition of another example from this series by the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Courtyard at the Museum of Modern Art.

Yinka Shonibare, CBE, grew up between the United Kingdom and Nigeria, an experience that continues to shape his exploration of migration and cultural exchange. As a child, he moved with his family to Lagos, but the artist later returned to London to study art. During his studies, a tutor prompted Shonibare to critically examine ideas of authenticity and multiculturalism in his art. The bronze Wind Sculpture continues this exploration, drawing on the form of ship sails that enabled imperial expansion and global trade.

The artist abstracts the sail motif and incorporates the bright patterns of Dutch wax fabric—a material often associated with West Africa despite its origins in Indonesian batik and its manufacture by the Dutch—transforming it into a dynamic, flowing form.

“Shonibare has described his aim in this series as ‘sculpting empty space,’ producing forms that appear weightless despite being cast in bronze,” explains VBMA Chief Curator Caitlin Swindell. “Resembling sails billowing in the wind and rendered in the bright, colorful patterns characteristic of Dutch wax fabric, the work conveys both movement and fragility.

“One of nine individually hand-painted examples of this particular shape, it features a pronounced plant motif, making it especially well-suited for permanent display in an outdoor sculpture park setting. The sculpture will have a prominent position in the courtyard of our new building, opening in 2028,” Swindell continues.

Shonibare’s La Méduse, 2008, a 72 x 94-inch chromogenic print on aluminum, will also come to the Museum as a gift from the artist. In the photograph, Shonibare references Théodore Géricault’s The Raft of the Medusa, evoking the harrowing fate of a French ship that was shipwrecked off the coast of Senegal. La Méduse marks Shinobare’s first use of the ship motif.

Yinka Shonibare’s work can be found in the collections of museums across the globe, including the Museum of Modern Art (New York), Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Brooklyn Museum, British Museum (London), Tate (London), National Institute of African Art (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC), Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts (Houston), Dallas Museum of Art, and the Milwaukee Art Museum to name a few.

The VBMA Athena Society was formed in 2003 to acquire art for the Museum’s permanent collection. Since its inception, its membership—now 164 households strong—has helped the Museum add 30 works to its growing collection of American and international art from the mid-19th century to the present.

To learn more about the Athena Society, contact Bev Shea, VBMA Assistant Director of Development, at 772-231-0707 ext. 109 or bshea@verobeachmuseum.org.