An Interpretation of Chris Ofili's Afrodizzia Essay

An Interpretation of Chris Ofilis Afrodizzia - Essay ExampleTo comprehend Chris Ofilis tempt and interpret it in a pretty manner, we have to identify styles that are consistent with his work. Ofilis work is recognizable by the layered surfaces of different materials. He borrows from the works of other artists and incorporates them into his work. An example is the elan he uses the cut out of photographs from magazines. Another feature common among Ofilis work is the size of his scenes. He does most of his work on six by eight feet canvases. Not that size means anything significant but I choose not to ignore it as a factor in the reading of his work. In my opinion, he desires to magnify the message in his works. I will give the example of his controversial painting the Holy Virgin Mary which has had its admirers and condemners. The work was a brazen play on religion and it could not be ignored largely because of its depiction of the Black Madonna. I argue that the size of that pai nting was an intention to magnify that depiction as with all other Ofilis paintings. Lastly, Ofili uses cow dung in most of his exertion. He said that the elephant dung was inspired by his visit to Zimbabwe during his masters at the Royal College of Art. He saw cave paintings which inspires his styles including his use of dung. He has often contended that the dung is meant to bring out the repulsiveness of the beauty of his paintings. It is important to note that Mr. Ofili derives his inspiration to make art from the social and political events impact him or the community in general. Most of his paintings document the issues affecting black people between the 70s and 90s. An example is No Woman No Cry which was inspired by racism against black in Britain. In his paintings also, Ofili asserts his thoughts on religion, popular culture and music (hip hop). The Holy Virgin Mary is a good example of where Ofili makes a bold but humorous statement on the Roman Catholic faith (Kleiner, 2 008, p. 55). Afrodizzia looks like a jewel. The medium used in the base composition of the painting is acrylic paint with oil resin, glitter, root word collage map pins and elephant compost. The collage, the paint and the lines drawings in the piece make it quite a sight. Ofili has used red, yellow and orange colors in the painting to stand for energy, excitement and radiance. These are the same words that could be used to describe the color scheme. The white background of the painting is a probable allusion to a passably sheet that will be stained by elephant dung. The introduction of green and blue colors creates a clash that can be directly interpreted to signify Ofilis search for identity. Color in art speaks of the mood of the piece in study. Ofilis decision to use many colors in an unspecified pattern shows a clash of emotions, identity and character. Afrodizzia was painted during a period fraught with the outcomes of racial tension in Great Britain. It was completed in 199 6, three years after the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence by six white youths (Campbell 1993) and during the Macpherson enquiry into his death. This tension had/has been ongoing since the Brixton riots in 1981 with Macpherson finding that certain institutions in Britain were racist and incompetent. Perhaps, Chris Ofili represented