Okechukwu ofili biography of christopher

Born:1968 Manchester, England

Other name/s: Christopher Ofili

Biography

Painter and draughtsman Chris Ofili was born to Nigerian Catholic parents on 10 October 1968 in Manchester, England. After taking an art foundation course at Tameside College of Technology he fell in love with painting and abandoned the idea of pursing a furniture design course and becoming a carpenter.

Of learning how to paint Ofili reflects, ‘Not only was it something completely new, but it was something that allowed me to investigate further into who I am’ (Christy Lange and Chris Ofili, In Search of the Real Me, Tate Etc, 1 January 2010). In 1991 he completed a BA in Fine Art at Chelsea School of Art in London where he befriended Scottish-Canadian painter Peter Doig.

In 1992 he went to Zimbabwe to study ancient cave paintings, returning with balls of elephant dung in his suitcase. Initially he displayed them at Brixton market, before beginning to feature them in his paintings (us Okechukwu Ofili (@ofilispeaks) • Instagram photos and videos JIQU