I had never really considered a future in art or design throughout most of my school life and if I'm honest, I saw it as another subject I HAD to do. However, this all changed as soon as I was introduced to the works of Chris Ofili, when my teacher noticed my penchant for bright colours, psychadelic patterns, the human form and collage.
Ofili had just won the 1998 Turner Prize for his best-known pieces that featured elephant dung among the many different materials applied to the canvas.
He had been shortlisted for the inventiveness, exuberance, humour and technical richness of his painting, but it was his vibrant and dynamic use of colour that had me hooked, adding a real energy and complexity to his work, emphasised by his multilayered use of media referencing blaxploitation and gangsta rap.
Twelve years later, the Tate Britain had a three month exhibition both of these works and those created since taking up residence in Trinidad in 2005.
Having not seen the originals paintings of the elephant dung series, it was enlightening to finally see the pieces that have had such an influence on my work throughout both my education and professional career.
The political and social messages behind each piece were lost on me as a teenager, but to see pieces such as
No Woman, No Cry (Ofili's portrait of the mother of murdered London teenager, Stephen Lawrence) up close was both breathtaking and emotive. To be able to see the detail behind each piece - the layers of collage, spraypaint, oil, varnish, lacquer - and the seemingly random background patterns reminded me of the hours and effort that go into creating real art.
However, the thing that shocked me most was the subconscious influence this artist has had on my work as an artist and as a designer. I have always been fond of colour, layering and collage and it dawned on me as I gazed deeply into
Captain Shit and the Legend of the Black Stars, that despite not having thought about these pieces in years (probably since those days at Westcliff High), it was being introduced to Ofili that started it all.
Refreshingly, Ofili has grown as an artist and found a new voice. He appears to have entered a 'blue period' of his own as he attempts to illustrate the dark history of the Carribean in
The Blue Riders and
Iscariot Blues.
There is no dung and no glitter. No collage, no psychadelic patterns. Instead the images are heavy and difficult to read and rely on texture to tell their mystical story.
Whilst I may prefer the earlier pieces that earned him his fame, I admire Ofili for this. He has continued to grow as an artist and has not allowed himself to be stuck on techniques that he knows work so well. Instead he has allowed the environment in which he lives to continue to influence his work. Gone are the urban influences from his days in Kings Cross, replaced by a more spiritual caribbean influence.
I for one can't wait for the next chapter in the journey from elephant art to nature's son.
