Chris Ofili's Two-Decade Retrospective at Tate Britain

Tate Britain presented a major survey of Chris Ofili's work from January 27 to May 16, 2010, covering his output from the early 1990s to 2009. The exhibition opened with his signature large-scale paintings from the early 1990s, created after his first trip to Zimbabwe in 1992, where he encountered cave paintings in Matobo National Park. These works incorporate elephant dung and pointillist techniques, establishing an Afro-inspired repertoire that both celebrates African colors and ironizes stereotypes. Ofili, a Turner Prize winner in 1998 and a Young British Artist featured in the 1997 Sensation exhibition, engages with European peers such as Manzoni, Gilbert and George, Gasiorowski, and Wim Delvoye in a dialogue about the artistic use of excrement. His work spans abstraction (e.g., Popcorn Tits, 1995) and figuration (e.g., Holy Virgin Mary, 1996, which uses elephant dung). Political works include No Woman no Cry (1998), a tribute to Stephen Lawrence, a victim of a racist crime in 1993. The exhibition's highlight was a series of watercolor drawings and the nude series 7 brides for 7 bros (2004-2006), which balance naivety and irony. Thirteen paintings were displayed in a structure designed by architect David Adjaye.