Yinka Shonibare CBE, RA Photo: James Mollison Last month, figures from across the international art world appeared on screen at the Whitechapel Gallery’s virtual gala to celebrate Yinka Shonibare CBE (RA), their designated “art icon” for 2021. The “i-word” can have cringeworthy connotations, but in this case, no one felt it was too hyperbolic a handle for this much-loved pioneering artist, who for more than three decades, has used his multifarious art to address the vexed legacy of colonialism, a quest that has never been more relevant than in the current moment. Shonibare is also a shining example of philanthropy, funding ambitious, creative residency projects in both London and Lagos, and now, as the recently appointed coordinator of the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition, he is set to shake up that most traditional bastion of white Western art traditions.