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Lot Essay
In this painting, Chris Ofili's infinitely delicate yet ironical representation of an feminine African archetype, the overwhelming appeal of the subject is conveyed through several layers of riotous, celebratory colour.
This process, achieved through the application of raised resin dots forming both the figure and the background, add a texture unique to Ofili, which, along with his use of elephant dung, has become his signature style.
"The dot making process," Ofili explains, "started in 1992 when I visited Zimbabwe and saw these Matopos cave paintings, one wall, 6 feet high and 20 feet long covered in yellow, red and blue dots, made with a sharpened twig and pigments. It's an abstract wall, early abstraction, nothing concrete, translating a state of mind into something visual through a repetitive dot making process." (In: K. Eshun, 'Plug Into Ofili', in: 'Chris Ofili', London 1998, unpaged.)
The dung, "ready-made from the elephant's arse" (ibid.), is used here both to support the piece and as a giant and conspicuous jewel around the woman's neck, inlaid with beads conjuring images of African tribal jewellery.
This process, achieved through the application of raised resin dots forming both the figure and the background, add a texture unique to Ofili, which, along with his use of elephant dung, has become his signature style.
"The dot making process," Ofili explains, "started in 1992 when I visited Zimbabwe and saw these Matopos cave paintings, one wall, 6 feet high and 20 feet long covered in yellow, red and blue dots, made with a sharpened twig and pigments. It's an abstract wall, early abstraction, nothing concrete, translating a state of mind into something visual through a repetitive dot making process." (In: K. Eshun, 'Plug Into Ofili', in: 'Chris Ofili', London 1998, unpaged.)
The dung, "ready-made from the elephant's arse" (ibid.), is used here both to support the piece and as a giant and conspicuous jewel around the woman's neck, inlaid with beads conjuring images of African tribal jewellery.