50 x £50, 2022

Shannon Bono (b.1995, London) received her MA in Art & Science from Central Saint Martins University and her Associate Fellowship in higher education from the University of the Arts London.

Shannon’s paintings embody an afrofemcentrist consciousness, sharing muted narratives and projecting black women’s lived experiences. She is invested in producing layered, figurative, compositions embedded with symbols and scientific metaphors that centralise black womanhood as a source of knowledge and understanding. Enamoured by African spiritually, Christian iconography and renaissance art she employs its purpose of cultural impact, liturgy and instruction for an improved society within her works. Shannon explores the internal body as well as the external, by merging the design of notable fabrics from Africa with biological structures, chemical processes and more recently the unseen world displaying magic for the backgrounds of her works. Bono uses the anatomy as a second canvas in the foreground of her works, she views the body as a powerful signifier that provokes dialogue, playing with pose, gesture and the gaze to challenge reality.  

In 2021, Bono presented her first solo exhibition titled “The Hands that Hold You,” at the Anderson Contemporary, London. She was selected for the Bloomberg New Contemporaries award 2021 showing at Firstsite and The South London Gallery. Recent exhibitions include "The Red Room" presented by Berntson Bhattacharjee gallery,  ”Love is the Devil: Studies after Francis Bacon” presented at Marlborough Gallery (2022), “Bold Black British,” presented at Christie’s (2021), “Reclaiming Magic” Royal Academy Summer exhibition, 'WOP' Avant Arte x WOAW Gallery Hong Kong (2021-2022), “Analogous” presented by The Daniel Benjamin Gallery and the World Reimagined Globe (2022). Other notable exhibitions she has participated in include The Lee Alexander McQueen Sarabande Foundation, Workplace Gallery, Wentrup Gallery, Amir Singh Gallery,OOF Gallery and the Copeland Gallery. Shannon’s work has been presented on the Maximus billboard in partnership with Black Blossoms and the Kensington and Chelsea Art week, billboards in New York transit systems in collaboration with Artsy, she has been featured in Dazed Magazine and online press by Elephant magazine, Wallpaper magazine, Bustle, i-D and Soho house.

@bonosart_
www.bono-art.com