Born in Manchester, England, in 1968, Chris Ofili is known for exuberant, relentlessly radical paintings that recalibrate fixed notions of beauty and test boundaries of artistic decorum. His early works from the mid-1990s are characterized by intensely decorative, multilayered compositions that irreverently employ a wide range of imagery, from Catholic icons to figures from 1970s Afropop comics. Ofili’s approach has developed in multiple and unexpected directions since he moved from London to Port of Spain, Trinidad, in 2005. Although working at a geographic remove, Ofili remains at the center of today’s dialogue on painting. His work has been the subject of two monographic exhibitions: the first at Tate Britain in 2010 and the second at the New Museum in 2014. The Museum of Modern Art was one of the earliest museums to include one of Ofili’s paintings in its collection, acquiring Prince amongst Thieves in 1999.

Wikipedia entry
Introduction
Christopher Ofili, (born 10 October 1968) is a British Turner Prize-winning painter who is best known for his paintings incorporating elephant dung. He was one of the Young British Artists. Since 2005, Ofili has been living and working in Trinidad and Tobago, where he currently resides in Port of Spain. He also lives and works in London and Brooklyn.Ofili has utilized resin, beads, oil paint, glitter, lumps of elephant dung, cut-outs from porn magazines as painting elements. His work has been classified as "punk art."
Wikidata
Q1077608
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Getty record
Introduction
Ofili has gained world-wide attention with his swirling, abstract paintings adorned with elephant dung. His portrait of the Virgin Mary with elephant dung sparked a controversy when it was exhibited in the Untied States in 1999.
Nationalities
British, English, Zimbabwean
Gender
Male
Roles
Artist, Painter, Photographer, Sculptor
Name
Chris Ofili
Ulan
500057423
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Information from Getty’s Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License

Works

42 works online

Exhibitions

View all 12 exhibitions

Publications

  • MoMA Highlights: 375 Works from The Museum of Modern Art Introduction by Glenn D. Lowry, 2019 Flexibound, 408 pages
  • MoMA Now: Highlights from The Museum of Modern Art—Ninetieth Anniversary Edition Introduction by Glenn D. Lowry, 2019 Hardcover, 424 pages
  • Among Others: Blackness at MoMA Charlotte Barat and Darby English, 2019 Hardcover, 488 pages
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