BY STEPHANIE BUHMANN(stephaniebuhmann.com) | This first major US solo museum exhibition of Ofili will span the artist’s entire career, encompassing painting, drawing and sculpture. Over the past two decades, Ofili has become known for his vibrant, meticulously executed compositions that fuse elements derived from figuration, abstraction, folklore decoration and pop-cultural kitsch. His imagery is no less eclectic, sourcing the Bible, hip-hop, Zimbabwean cave paintings, blaxploitation films and William Blake’s poems, among others.
This survey aims to reveal how significantly Ofili’s practice is based on constant change and free experimentation. It certainly succeeds in celebrating a body of work that involves many facets and ranges from boldly expressive to deeply introspective.
CHRIS OFILI: NIGHT AND DAY
Through February 1
At the New Museum
235 Bowery
(btw. Rivington & Stanton Sts.)
Tues.–Wed. & Fri.–Sun., 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
Thurs., 11 a.m.–9 p.m.
Admission: $16
($14 seniors, $10 students)
Pay as you wish, 7–9 p.m. Thurs.
Call 212-219-1222
Visit newmuseum.org
In contrast to Ofili’s famous work of the 1990s, in which he layered materials — including paint, resin, glitter and elephant dung — his most recent works have been animated by exotic characters, outlandish landscapes and myths that resonate with references to the paintings of Henri Matisse and Paul Gauguin.
No matter what series one focuses on, one quickly recognizes that it is Ofili’s hybrid juxtapositions of high and low, and of the sacred and the profane, that bestow his images with unique drama and energy.
At 7 p.m. on Thurs., Jan. 29, writer and scholar Fred Moten responds to “Chris Ofili: Night and Day” by critically considering Ofili’s work through various stages of the artist’s career. Admission to the event is $10, with pay-as-you-wish general admission to the museum.
