About Chris Ofili

Chris Ofili (born 1968 in Manchester, UK) is a celebrated Nigerian-British contemporary artist whose innovative practice bridges painting, collage, and printmaking. Rising to prominence as part of the Young British Artists (YBAs) in the 1990s, Ofili gained widespread recognition when he won the prestigious Turner Prize in 1998, becoming one of the few African-Caribbean artists of his generation to achieve such acclaim. His work blends high art with elements of popular culture, music, and spirituality, offering a vivid exploration of identity, race, and cultural history.

Ofili is best known for his bold use of color, layered compositions, and incorporation of unconventional materials, most famously elephant dung. Far from being a mere provocation, the dung serves both a literal and symbolic purpose—connecting his paintings to the earth while challenging traditional modes of presentation. By placing works on supports made from dung, he gives them a grounded, relaxed presence, in his words freeing them from being “pinned upon the wall like it’s being crucified.”

His signature paintings often combine multiple layers of paint with collaged materials such as glitter, magazine cut-outs, and resin, creating richly textured surfaces that are at once visually dazzling and conceptually complex. These compositions frequently merge figurative abstraction with cultural motifs, drawing from his Nigerian heritage, biblical narratives, and contemporary politics.

Alongside painting, Ofili has produced a significant body of limited edition prints, which extend his visual language into more accessible formats for collectors. His artworks invite viewers to consider the interplay of identity, culture, and materiality, establishing him as a transformative figure in postwar and contemporary art.

Now based in Trinidad and Tobago, Chris Ofili continues to expand his practice with works that reflect both personal spirituality and global cultural dialogues, securing his place as one of the most influential artists of his generation.

Notable exhibitions

Chris Ofili’s exhibition history highlights his standing as one of the most significant contemporary British artists of his generation. He first rose to international attention in the 1990s as part of the Young British Artists, and in 1998 became the first Black artist to win the Turner Prize.

A pivotal early moment was his inclusion in Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection at the Royal Academy of Arts in London (1997), which brought his work to global attention. He later represented Britain at the 50th Venice Biennale (2003), and a group of his paintings was featured again at the 56th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale in 2015, curated by Okwui Enwezor.

Major retrospectives have been dedicated to his work, including Chris Ofili at the Tate Britain, London (2010), which surveyed two decades of his career, and the landmark exhibition at the New Museum, New York (2014–15), his first major U.S. retrospective. Further solo presentations have been staged at the Aspen Art Museum in Colorado (2015), the Arts Club of Chicago, and the Studio Museum in Harlem, underscoring his international acclaim.

In 2017, Ofili expanded his practice into large-scale textile work with Weaving Magic at the National Gallery in London, a monumental tapestry created in collaboration with master weavers. His works are now held in leading museum collections including the Tate Modern, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Art Institute of Chicago, affirming his lasting impact on contemporary art.

Through these high-profile exhibitions, Chris Ofili has continually challenged and redefined the possibilities of painting, printmaking, and material experimentation, cementing his legacy as a transformative figure in global contemporary art.