INVISIBLE MAN 2018

Yinka Shonibare’s ‘Invisible Man’ is a sculpture that shows a figure carrying a net full of who-knows-what and a head that's a globe. Shonibare seems like a maker who's asking, "What do we carry, and what carries us?" It feels like they are interested in weight and counterweight—the push and pull of histories and identities. I bet when they made this they were thinking about what it means to be seen and unseen, and the burden of representation. The colors are wild; Dutch wax fabrics are used to make the garment, which brings in a whole history of trade, colonialism, and cultural exchange. The globe as a head also suggests the weight of the world. The net is full of stuff, but what is it? Is it treasures or garbage, or both? The artist seems to ask big questions about what we value and what we discard. It's a very physical piece, right? Almost like he's inviting us to share the load.