By Safie Benoit

The Tate Britain is spending the early part of this year celebrating the creative achievements of Turner Prize winner, Chris Ofili, a British born artist with Nigerian heritage. Ofili’s paintings, pencil drawings and watercolours from the 1990s to the present day have been exhibited in seven rooms in the Tate, providing a real sense of the development of Ofili’s artistic career; its progression, influences and direction changes. Although, as Ofili says for himself, the paintings are out of the original context that are naturally intended for them, being placed at the Tate allows them to speak for themselves in a way that is quite profound and moving.

His paintings burst with extraordinary colour, intricacy and what might at first seem like absurdity, but none the less, his works have definite meaning and depth invocating to blackness amongst many other themes. 

Much of his earlier works in the 1990s are marked by his famous trademark, an outlandish ball of elephant dung and the Yoruba and Aboriginal dot painting style, similar to that of Zimbabwean cave paintings. These works are greatly influenced by Ofili’s African roots and openly point to aspects of his African heritage. During the mid to late 90s Ofili’s works become greatly fuelled by the blaxploitation movie era of the 1970s, 90s hip-hop and American gangster rap music, further contemporary symbols of black culture and the black experience at the time. The allusions to black rap and film stars, such as fictional cartoon character ‘Captain sh*t’ and the famous black stars which are discretely placed in every other painting, are also ways of translating the black experience, but also perhaps mocking it and exploiting the misunderstandings within it.  â€˜The Adoration of Captain sh*t and the Legend of the Black Stars’ is a hilarious parody of the American gangster rappers; it appears to glorify Captain sh*t as white hands want to touch him - or do they want to pull him down? However, it simultaneously ridicules the triviality of his very overtly stereotypical image.

Similar obscurities are held up with sexual and racial stereotypes throughout Ofili’s paintings and also what it is to be beautiful or ugly. He questions the black community’s judgement on female beauty with paintings ‘Blossom’ and her antithesis ‘Foxy Roxy’. But like Captain sh*t, these works allow you to make your own judgements as to which is being celebrated and which is being derided.

Ofili explores and plays with ideas and concepts in all his works, however, there is an extremely apparent distinction between his earlier works and his creations since immigrating to Trinidad. Living in Trinidad has clearly made an impact on his more recent works as the last two rooms in the exhibition are filled with paintings that are hung on the walls rather than supported by two large dung balls at either side of each canvas. The pieces in the very last room are almost a complete turn around from the earlier natural resources used, such as teeth, hair and dung balls. There is a new fluidity about the more recent paintings, which brings a refreshing change although makes them unrecognisable as Ofili originals. A clear Caribbean influence is greatly evident through the bright, neon colours, continuous waterfalls, streams and rainforest imagery. However, Ofili stays true to his beliefs throughout all of his pieces and each work of art speaks a thousand words about the images and surroundings he witnesses, much better than he could himself. Ofili’s works hold the beauty of being able to bring high art to popular culture. His work is accessible to all and plays on what is hallowed, secular and vulgar, turning them all on their heads at times. He is a true modern day extraordinaire.

Chris Ofili’s paintings, pencil drawings and watercolours will be exhibited at the Tate Britain until 16^th May. For more information and opening times, visit the Tate website.

Tickets £10

Concessions £8.50

All images courtesy of the Tate press office