Chris Ofili created some of the most contested paintings of the 1990s when he started using an unlikely material: elephant dung. His painting, The Holy Virgin Mary, later provoked a public storm when Mayor Rudy Giuliani tried to shut down its exhibition in New York.
Working in richly layered paint, resin, glitter and collage, Ofili combines African, religious and pop culture imagery into dense, materially complex surfaces.
He has lived in Trinidad since 2005, where his palette shifted toward bright colour and a lighter, more decorative touch. He became the first Black artist to win the Turner Prize in 1998.
Working in richly layered paint, resin, glitter and collage, Ofili combines African, religious and pop culture imagery into dense, materially complex surfaces.
He has lived in Trinidad since 2005, where his palette shifted toward bright colour and a lighter, more decorative touch. He became the first Black artist to win the Turner Prize in 1998.
Summary
Chris Ofili created some of the most contested paintings of the 1990s when he started using an unlikely material: elephant dung. His painting, The Holy Virgin Mary, later provoked a public storm when Mayor Rudy Giuliani tried to shut down its exhibition in New York.
Working in richly layered paint, resin, glitter and collage, Ofili combines African, religious and pop culture imagery into dense, materially complex surfaces.
He has lived in Trinidad since 2005, where his palette shifted toward bright colour and a lighter, more decorative touch. He became the first Black artist to win the Turner Prize in 1998.
Working in richly layered paint, resin, glitter and collage, Ofili combines African, religious and pop culture imagery into dense, materially complex surfaces.
He has lived in Trinidad since 2005, where his palette shifted toward bright colour and a lighter, more decorative touch. He became the first Black artist to win the Turner Prize in 1998.
Artworks by Chris Ofili
About Chris Ofili
Biography
About Chris Ofili
Chris Ofili was born in 1968 in Manchester, England, to Nigerian parents. He studied at Chelsea School of Art before completing a degree at the Royal College of Art in London.
In 1992, a travel scholarship took him to Zimbabwe, where he first encountered elephant dung used as a building and decorative material, and consequently began incorporating it into his own paintings.
Dung, glitter and a Turner Prize
Ofili's paintings prop themselves up on lumps of dried elephant dung, which he began working directly into his canvases from the mid-1990s onward.
His 1996 painting The Holy Virgin Mary shows a Black Madonna surrounded by collaged images cut from pornographic magazines. It became the centre of public controversy when it was shown in New York in 1999.
Ofili won the Turner Prize in 1998, becoming the first Black artist to receive the award.
Printmaking since 1996
Ofili published his first set of etchings in 1996, developed from sketches made on trips to Barcelona, Berlin, New York and North Wales. His prints have since used etching, lithography and screenprint, often combining several techniques in a single edition.
His piece, R.I.P. Stephen Lawrence, pairs a four-colour lithograph with glow-in-the-dark silkscreened text honouring the murdered London teenager. He has continued to make prints throughout his career, including a 2019 series with the New York publisher, Two Palms.
Since 2005, Ofili has lived and worked in Trinidad, using a brighter palette and gold leaf, alongside his darker hued works.
Biography
About Chris Ofili
Chris Ofili was born in 1968 in Manchester, England, to Nigerian parents. He studied at Chelsea School of Art before completing a degree at the Royal College of Art in London.
In 1992, a travel scholarship took him to Zimbabwe, where he first encountered elephant dung used as a building and decorative material, and consequently began incorporating it into his own paintings.
Dung, glitter and a Turner Prize
Ofili's paintings prop themselves up on lumps of dried elephant dung, which he began working directly into his canvases from the mid-1990s onward.
His 1996 painting The Holy Virgin Mary shows a Black Madonna surrounded by collaged images cut from pornographic magazines. It became the centre of public controversy when it was shown in New York in 1999.
Ofili won the Turner Prize in 1998, becoming the first Black artist to receive the award.
Printmaking since 1996
Ofili published his first set of etchings in 1996, developed from sketches made on trips to Barcelona, Berlin, New York and North Wales. His prints have since used etching, lithography and screenprint, often combining several techniques in a single edition.
His piece, R.I.P. Stephen Lawrence, pairs a four-colour lithograph with glow-in-the-dark silkscreened text honouring the murdered London teenager. He has continued to make prints throughout his career, including a 2019 series with the New York publisher, Two Palms.
Since 2005, Ofili has lived and worked in Trinidad, using a brighter palette and gold leaf, alongside his darker hued works.