Grain Weevil (from Bugs Portfolio)

2000
Shonibare, CBE, Yinka
This print is part of a portfolio, published by the Byam Shaw School of Art in London, with the aim of raising funds to provide bursaries to support Byam Shaw students from overseas. The ten artists all responded to the theme of Bugs, set by the school's Principal, Alister Warman. The portfolio was conceived as a sequel to an earlier print portfolio, 'Nine London Birds', published by the school in 1994, and originally planned to refer specifically to insects found in London. Shonibare's attractive and decorative approach to this theme contrasts with what could be a person's initial feeling of revulsion to bugs and insects. This print depicts a Grain Weevil, a breed of beetle that damages stored grain, boring into it to deposit its eggs. The white spots that appear scattered throughout the print are reminiscent of both insect eggs and contamination. Steven Burridge
  • Artwork Details: 30.5 x 40.5cm
  • Edition: 20/90
  • Material description: lithograph with gloss spot UV varnish
  • Credit line: © the artist
  • Theme:
  • Medium: Print
  • Accession number: ACC49/2001

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The Arts Council Collection is the UK's most widely seen collection of modern and contemporary art.

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