
Chris Ofili
R.I.P. Stephen Lawrence 1974 - 1993, 2013

Excellent condition; another edition of this work is in the permanent collection of the Tate and …

Turner Prize-winning Young British Artist (YBA) Chris Ofili draws inspiration from an eclectic array of popular, artistic, and religious sources, from the Bible and William Blake to blaxploitation films, hip hop, and his Nigerian heritage. His large-scale paintings—combining rippling dots of paint, drifts of glitter, collaged images, and most famously, elephant dung—work together in the service of a complex narrative about African culture, black stereotypes, history, and exoticism. His well-known and highly controversial work The Holy Virgin Mary (1996) comprised oil paint, glitter, polyester resin, and paper collage and depicted a black Madonna surrounded by images of female genitalia extracted from pornographic magazines, and lumps of dung. In 1999, New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani had the work removed from the "Sensation" exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Ofili's later work adopts simpler, more pared-down forms with similar themes.


Excellent condition; another edition of this work is in the permanent collection of the Tate and other institutions. In 'R.I.P. Stephen Lawrence 1974 - 1993', Ofili re-visits his iconic artwork, 'No Woman, No Cry' (1998) - the artist's tribute to the murdered South London teenager. Using a …

Turner Prize-winning Young British Artist (YBA) Chris Ofili draws inspiration from an eclectic array of popular, artistic, and religious sources, from the Bible and William Blake to blaxploitation films, hip hop, and his Nigerian heritage. His large-scale paintings—combining rippling dots of paint, drifts of glitter, collaged images, and most famously, elephant dung—work together in the service of a complex narrative about African culture, black stereotypes, history, and exoticism. His well-known and highly controversial work The Holy Virgin Mary (1996) comprised oil paint, glitter, polyester resin, and paper collage and depicted a black Madonna surrounded by images of female genitalia extracted from pornographic magazines, and lumps of dung. In 1999, New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani had the work removed from the "Sensation" exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Ofili's later work adopts simpler, more pared-down forms with similar themes.