Yinka Shonibare ‘Wind Sculpture’ acquired by Vero Beach Museum of Art

The Vero Beach Museum of Art (VBMA) is acquiring Wind Sculpture in Bronze VI, 2025, by British Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare, CBE (b. 1962), further strengthening the institution’s distinct and growing collection of global contemporary art. Towering over six feet tall, the work is part of a recent series of hand-painted sculptures by the artist that captures the dynamic movement of fabric billowing in the wind. Wind Sculpture will remain on view at the museum through April 26, 2026, and will be featured prominently in the sculpture garden of VBMA’s expanded new museum, designed by Allied Works and Unknown Studio, opening in 2028. 

Wind Sculpture in Bronze VI was elected for purchase and acquired with the support of the VBMA’s Athena Society, which has played a pivotal role in shaping the Museum’s permanent collection by voting on and supporting major acquisitions each year. Since its inception, the Athena Society has helped the VBMA strategically grow its modern and contemporary collection, with acquisitions including works by Anish Kapoor, Refik Anadol, Marguerite Zorach, Joseph Stella, and Charles Sheeler.

Coinciding with the acquisition, Shonibare is gifting the museum La Méduse, a chromogenic print on aluminum from 2008 that 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. This earlier work relates conceptually to the new Wind series.   

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 practice. 

The Wind Sculpture series continues Shonibare’s exploration of identity and culture, 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.” 

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, D.C.), Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts (Houston), Dallas Museum of Art, and the Milwaukee Art Museum, among others.

About the VBMA Athena Society 

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. 

About VBMA 

Situated on a barrier island on Florida’s eastern shore, the Vero Beach Museum of Art (VBMA) offers an unparalleled setting for audiences to engage with the visual arts through original exhibitions, expansive educational offerings, and dynamic public programming. Founded in 1986 as an arts education center, VBMA has grown its mission and reach over the decades to become a premier cultural destination on the Treasure Coast and one of the most visited art institutions of its scale in the nation.

Its upcoming renovation and expansion, designed by Allied Works with Unknown Studio, builds on nearly 40 years of fostering connection, creativity, and cultural enrichment through the visual arts.