Chris Ofili was born on October 10, 1968 in Manchester. Chris is a British painter who is best known for his works of art that reference his Nigerian heritage and his incorporation of elephant dung. Ofili attended a catholic school which was a school for boys. After that he attended Xaverian College in Victoria Park Manchester. He also studied in London at the Chelsea School of Art from 1988 to 1991 and then at the Royal College of Art from 1991 to 1993. Ofili was established because of exhibits by Charles Saatchi at his art gallery in north London and also because of the traveling exhibition called "Sensation" in 1997. Because of this he became recognized as one of the few British artists of African/Caribbean descent to break through as a member of the "Young British Artists" group. Chris Ofili has had many solo exhibits since the early 1990s including the Serpentine Gallery. In 1992 Chris received a scholarship that allowed him to travel to Zimbabwe where he studied cave paintings that ended up having an effect on his style. With this new style he began to work with elephant dung that people though he splatter on his paintings but in reality he applies it to his painting in the form of round spheres, and he sometimes uses it as foot stands on his paintings. Not only do Ofili's painting reference his Nigerian Heritage they also reference gangster rap seeking to question racial and sexual stereotypes in humorous ways. His work is often build up in layers of different materials to create a collage. In 1998 Chris Ofili won the Turner Prize.
No comments:
Post a Comment