Chris Ofili

Chris Ofili’s (b. 1968) atmospheric and enigmatic paintings investigate the intersection of desire, identity, and representation. Portraying characters from a range of aesthetic and cultural sources through a kaleidoscopic visual mode that bridges abstraction and figuration, his works serve as sites for journeys of creative transformation. Born in Manchester, England, Ofili received his BA in Fine Art from the Chelsea School of Art, London, in 1991 and his MA in Fine Art from the Royal College of Art, London, in 1993. He has been working with David Zwirner since 2005.

In 2023, Requiem, a major site-specific mural by Ofili, was unveiled at Tate Britain, London, and will remain on long-term view. In 2022, the Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, presented Chris Ofili: The Othello Prints, in conjunction with a yearlong festival centered on Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s Shakespeare-inspired jazz piece. In 2017, the National Gallery, London, presented Chris Ofili: Weaving Magic, which marked the first time the artist had worked in the medium of tapestry. In 2012, Ofili was commissioned by The Royal Ballet and National Gallery in London to design sets and costumes and a substantial suite of paintings for a collaborative interdisciplinary project, Metamorphosis: Titian 2012. The artist’s first major solo museum exhibition in the United States, Chris Ofili: Night and Day (2014–2015), was held at the New Museum, New York, and subsequently traveled to the Aspen Art Museum in Colorado.

Other monographic exhibitions have taken place at the Arts Club of Chicago (2010); Tate Britain, London (2005 and 2010); Kestner Gesellschaft, Hanover, Germany (2006); and The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York (2005). In 2015, Ofili’s work was included in All the World’s Futures, the International Art Exhibition of the 56th Venice Biennale, curated by Okwui Enwezor; and Ofili represented Britain at the British Pavilion, 50th Venice Biennale (2003). In 2017, Ofili was a recipient of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE), and in 1998, he was awarded the prestigious Turner Prize.

The artist’s works are represented in prominent institutional collections worldwide, including The British Museum, London; The Broad, Los Angeles; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Centre national des arts plastiques, Puteaux, France; The Dakis Joannou Collection, Athens; Dallas Museum of Art; Fortress House Museum, Gibraltar; Glenstone Museum, Potomac, Maryland; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museu Coleção Berardo, Lisbon; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; National Portrait Gallery, London; Pérez Art Museum Miami; Royal College of Art, London; Rubell Museum, Miami; Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection, Helsinki; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; Tate, United Kingdom; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art, Cape Town.