Since the mid-1990s, Chris Ofili has become well-known for his vibrant, technically complex, and meticulously executed paintings and works on paper. While his early works were predominantly abstract, involving intricate patterns and colors, he has since developed a signature figurative style that bridges the gap between the sacred and the profane, and by extension, between high art and popular culture. His works center around the relationship between form and content—often using several layers of paint, resin, glitter, collage elements, and occasionally, elephant dung, Ofili enlists sexual, cultural, historical, and religious references to create uniquely aesthetic and physical works that expose the darker undercurrents of society, while also celebrating contemporary black culture.
This new edition from Ofili commemorates his 2014-2015 exhibition "Night and Day" at the New Museum in New York, which spanned the artist's influential career, encompassing his paintings, drawings, and sculptures. Entitled Mali Memory (Tea Dance), the work features two figures—male and female—as they meet on the dance floor, foreheads marking the divide between two dream-like spaces.
Archival pigment print on Arches Aquarelle cotton rag paper
10.00 x 8.00 in
25.4 x 20.3 cm
This work is signed on recto and numbered on verso.
Since the mid-1990s, Chris Ofili has become well-known for his vibrant, technically complex, and meticulously executed paintings and works on paper. While his early works were predominantly abstract, involving intricate patterns and colors, he has since developed a signature figurative style that bridges the gap between the sacred and the profane, and by extension, between high art and popular culture. His works center around the relationship between form and content—often using several layers of paint, resin, glitter, collage elements, and occasionally, elephant dung, Ofili enlists sexual, cultural, historical, and religious references to create uniquely aesthetic and physical works that expose the darker undercurrents of society, while also celebrating contemporary black culture.
This new edition from Ofili commemorates his 2014-2015 exhibition "Night and Day" at the New Museum in New York, which spanned the artist's influential career, encompassing his paintings, drawings, and sculptures. Entitled Mali Memory (Tea Dance), the work features two figures—male and female—as they meet on the dance floor, foreheads marking the divide between two dream-like spaces.
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