Corinne's Artist Research Project: Chris Ofili
Chris Ofili is a British painter who is known for his controversial artwork referencing his Nigerian heritage. He was born in Manchester, England in 1968 and attended school at the Chelsea School of Art and the Royal College of Art in London from 1988-1993. Ofili primarily works with oil and acrylic paint, resin, glitter and elephant dung on canvas to create a collage. For example, “When the Shit Hits the Man� 2008 (see below).
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"When the Shit Hits the Man" 2008
Ofili’s work generally revolves around questioning racial and sexual stereotypes in a humorous way by referencing things such as “blaxploitation films� (exploitation films that target an urban black audience) and gangster rap. For this reason, much of his work has created a large amount of controversy, especially with his deliberate misuse of traditionally ritualistic elephant dung. In particular, one of the more controversial paintings is “The Holy Virgin Mary� (1996), which is an African American virgin surrounded by pornographic magazine cutouts, which is deliberately provocative in order to shock the viewer into a less superficial mode of thinking and progress into a deeper spiritual analyzation of the appearance of Mary, since so little is actually known about it.
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"The Holy Virgin Mary" 1996
Ofili obtains most of his inspiration from his Nigerian heritage, as well as ancient Zimbabwean cave paintings with which he combines images from popular culture. For example, through his approach to challenging numerous issues on black stereotypes, Ofili wants to not only inform his audience, but broaden the viewer’s interpretation beyond its cultural meaning as well. In comparison, Ofili’s work is in many ways similar to William Kentridge’s, Nan Goldin and Lorna Simpson in that fact that all four try to tell a story, in particular a historical and/or factual even that had taken place and possessed some kind of emotional significance. Although all accomplish this through numerous ways, each artist strives to depict an important event that has had a personal emotional impact on their lives.
In particular, I saw many similarities between Ofili and Lorna Simpson. Both artists aim to target the African American population and confronting the expression of society’s relationship with race and ethnicity, where usually images of black woman and/or men appear if images of humans are present. Additionally, both have explored the uses of various media when creating their installations. Although Ofili primarily works with oil and acrylic images on canvas, and Simspon mainly utilizes photography occasionally with text, both manage to portray the story they are trying to tell by creating images that capture the essence of their political and/social symbolism that are easily recognized by their target audience-African Americans. Both Ofili and Simpson relate to their audience by depicting only members of their target audience, and incorporating African American history with the combination of symbolic images and contemporary culture. For example, Chris Ofili’s “No Woman, No Cry� (1998) is a painting dedicated to the memory of Stephan Lawerence, the murder victim of a racist gang; it is also inspire by the Bob Marley song, “No Woman, No Cry�. It is not only a tribute to the victim’s family, but it is also a starting point for political activism and the need for social change. In the painting, the woman is shedding tears, which each represent the portrait of the murder victim. Similarly, Lorna Simposon’s “Waterbearer� (1986) is a profoundly simplistic photograph that depicts the historical and contemporary reference of the working African American woman; someone who, as stated in the text, is a forgotten memory. However, the flowing water has healing powers and acts as a portal through which the woman can reconnect with the past and the present, thus reclaiming her place in history and making peace with it. See below for both images.
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"No Woman, No Cry" 1998
"Waterbearer" 1986
Although I do not agree with some of Ofili’s choices of work, in particular the elephant dung, I still would recommend his work to another person because one of his main goals is to broaden the viewer’s interpretation of symbolic popular culture, as well as to expose common African American stereotypes. Both of which I think are important issue to be addressed within today’s contemporary society. I think it is good for controversy to exist because it causes the audience to actually think and ask questions about the work, instead of just observing a piece of art. Ofili’s use of controversial images utilizes shock value to capture an audience’s attention, but he leaves it up to the viewer to question its interpretation and meaning in somewhat of a testing method to see if the viewer is willing the think outside the box in order to understand the deeper meaning. See below for more work by Chris Ofili.
“Chris Ofili�. African Success: People Changing the Face of Africa. 2007. African Success. 29 July 2007.< http://www.africansuccess.org/visuFiche.php?id=253&lang=en>.
Sternbergh, Adam. “Aftershock.� New York Magazine Art. May 2005: New York. New York Media 2008. < http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/art/reviews/11877/>.
"Afro Muses" 1995-2005
"Afro Apparition" 2002-2003
"Iscariot Blues" 2006