Chris Ofili - Full of it!
 Chris Ofili studied Fine Art at Chelsea School of Art, before completing a Masters degree in painting at the Royal College of Art. His work mixes a wide range of cultural references, from the Bible to pornographic magazines, from 1970s comics to the work of artists such as William Blake. He also experiments outside the traditional confines of oil paint, introducing things like elephant dung into his work; he enjoys the tension between the beautiful paint surfaces and the perceived ugliness of the dung.
The unusual use of dung used in his paintings comes from the elephants at London, Whipsnade and Berlin Zoos. This has now become Offilis calling card. In 1992 he was awarded a British Council travel scholarship to Zimbabwe which had a lasting impact on his painting. As a black Briton of Nigerian descent, the trip to Africa encouraged him to reconsider his own identity. By using the dung he feels that he is quite literally incorporating Africa within his work! It is used within his work as compositional elements and also acted as supports on which to displays his paintings.
Ofili’s originality lies in his enjoyment of displaying humour in his work. Which is based on serious topics such as racism and religion. “My project is not a pc project” says Chris “It allows you to laugh about issues that are potentially serious.” For example his cartoon superhero Captain Shit, painted in parody of the 1970’s ‘blaxploitation’ movies of sharply dressed gangsta heroes of rap music, actually glows in the dark!
However, it was Offili’s painting of the Black Virgin who he paints surrounded by a collage of body parts snipped from pornographic magazines that caused the most controversy. The Black Virgin has often appeared in religious painting however, Ofili’s painting adds humour to a serious topic. Nevertheless, his work has a more serious purpose than just to shock.
In 1998 Chris Ofili became one of the first black artists in the UK to win the Turner Prize. His painting ‘No Woman No Cry’ (named after the Bob Marley song) is a portrait of a woman shedding tears, and in each tear is a tiny portrait of the black murder victim Stephen Lawrence. The painting was dedicated to Lawrences mother. The words ‘No Woman No Cry’ are picked out in coloured pins stuck into balls of dung at the paintings feet.
So, do you think you have what it takes to be the next Chris Ofili? Well, most artists, if not all, serve their “apprenticeships” and find their voice as artists under the protective environment of training.
The majority of students who go on to study Art & Design at degree level attend a foundation course first to broaden their experience of the subject. The Foundation courses lead to a diploma and are designed to help identify strengths and weaknesses, which in turn will help you to make a better choice of degree. Other alternatives available are Foundation Degrees in Art & Design, which allow students flexibility whilst studying and can also act as a fast route into higher education.
Entry to the vast majority of art and design courses is through UCAS – www.ucas.com - or for more detailed information the National Society for Education in Art and Design (NSEAD) publish the book “Creative Futures”, which is available through the NSEAD.
www.nsead.org
Chris Ofili’s work is now showing at Tate Britain. For more information contact: Tate Britain 020 7887 8000 www.tate.org.uk
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