Chris Ofili
The Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester
28 November - 24 January 1999
THE WHITWORTH ART GALLERY
The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M15 6ER
www.whitworth.man.ac.uk
The Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester
28 November - 24 January 1999
An exhibition of the work of the Turner Prize-nominee Chris Ofili comes to the Whitworth Art Gallery. The show will open just days before the Turner Prize announcement on 1 December with Ofili returning to his home city, having shown his paintings in major exhibitions in Europe and the USA.
Chris Ofili's extraordinary paintings are inspired by a wide range of influences in art and popular culture, including jazz and hip hop, comic book heroes, glamour magazine models, 1970's afro hairdos and Blaxploitation movies. He has also studied the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Philip Guston, George Condo, and William Blake, as well as an inspiring trip to Africa in the early 1990's. His own work featured most strongly in the recent Sensation exhibition of highlights from the Saatchi collection shown at the Royal Academy last year.
Despite the large-scale nature of the work, it is in the details that the artist finds real beauty, often in the most unexpected of materials. His dazzlingly innovative works often incorporate coloured resin, glitter, magazine cut-outs, phosphorescent paint, and, most famously, elephant dung with layer upon layer of surface and decoration.
The exhibition shows a selection of his work from the last five years and has been organised by Southampton City Art Gallery and the Serpentine Gallery, London. The accompanying illustrated catalogue is the first publication dedicated to Chris Ofili's work and will be available at the exhibition.
The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M15 6ER
www.whitworth.man.ac.uk
