If you haven’t heard, you have probably been living under a rock or on a remote island. Chris Ofili’s name is popping up everwhere, and the press coverage is certainly having an effect on me: I want to go!
Installation View, Tate BritainOfili is having a retrospective–which feels off to me, for a 41 year old whose work is evolving to already have a retrospective–at Tate Britain, and to mixed reviews of his more recent work. Since moving to Trinidad, he has begun experimenting with new forms and pared down medium. (To borrow a phrase, he has “cut the crap.”) Check out the video at the Guardian about the influence of the Caribbean on his work.
His more recent paintings are less flamboyant, minus the glitter and dung, etc. The curator Judith Nesbitt says to Culture 24:
“He says he’s doing more of the listening now, working in a more open-minded way, letting it be, waiting to see where it’s going to go.That’s one of the most exciting factors in this exhibition. He’s still a young artist. He’s got some way to go.”
Iscariot blues, 2007Some of the buzz:
- Interview– Guardian
- “At a beautiful and provocative Tate show, we see the artist and his elephant droppings in a new and improved light”– Times Online
- In Pictures– BBC
- “Dazzled by an intense beauty”– The Independant
- Insider Chatter– ArtForum