Ofili, Chris (1968- ) - 1995 Spaceshit
Chris Ofili is a Turner Prize winning British painter best known for artworks referencing aspects of his Nigerian heritage, particularly his incorporation of elephant dung. He was one of the Young British Artists, and is now based in Trinidad. Ofili was born in Manchester. He had a Catholic school education attending St. Pius X High School for Boys, and then Xaverian College in Victoria Park. Ofili completed a foundation course in art at Tameside College in Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester and studied in London, at the Chelsea School of Art from 1988 to 1991 and at the Royal College of Art from 1991 to 1993.
Ofili was established through exhibitions by Charles Saatchi and the traveling exhibition Sensation (1997) becoming recognized as one of the few British artists of African/Caribbean descent to break through as a member of the Young British Artists group. Ofili has also had numerous solo shows since the early 1990s including the Serpentine Gallery. In 1998, Ofili won the Turner Prize, and in 2003 he was selected to represent Britain at the Venice Biennale of that year.
In 1992 he won a scholarship which allowed him to travel to Zimbabwe. Ofili studied cave paintings there, which had some effect on his style. Though Ofili's detractors often state that he "splatters" elephant dung on his pictures, this is inaccurate: he sometimes applies it directly to the canvas in the form of dried spherical lumps, and sometimes, in the same form, uses it as varnished foot-like supports on which the paintings stand (see above). His work is often built up in layers of paint, resin, glitter, dung (mainly elephant) and other materials to create a collage.
Ofili, Chris (1968- ) - 1995 Spaceshit
Chris Ofili is a Turner Prize winning British painter best known for artworks referencing aspects of his Nigerian heritage, particularly his incorporation of elephant dung. He was one of the Young British Artists, and is now based in Trinidad. Ofili was born in Manchester. He had a Catholic school education attending St. Pius X High School for Boys, and then Xaverian College in Victoria Park. Ofili completed a foundation course in art at Tameside College in Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester and studied in London, at the Chelsea School of Art from 1988 to 1991 and at the Royal College of Art from 1991 to 1993.
Ofili was established through exhibitions by Charles Saatchi and the traveling exhibition Sensation (1997) becoming recognized as one of the few British artists of African/Caribbean descent to break through as a member of the Young British Artists group. Ofili has also had numerous solo shows since the early 1990s including the Serpentine Gallery. In 1998, Ofili won the Turner Prize, and in 2003 he was selected to represent Britain at the Venice Biennale of that year.
In 1992 he won a scholarship which allowed him to travel to Zimbabwe. Ofili studied cave paintings there, which had some effect on his style. Though Ofili's detractors often state that he "splatters" elephant dung on his pictures, this is inaccurate: he sometimes applies it directly to the canvas in the form of dried spherical lumps, and sometimes, in the same form, uses it as varnished foot-like supports on which the paintings stand (see above). His work is often built up in layers of paint, resin, glitter, dung (mainly elephant) and other materials to create a collage.