It’s about the bittersweet, druggy melancholic feeling…
Yes,
and her music is double-edged, you know. She lived in Paris and there is
this great song Ne
me quitte pas – unbelievable. And when you talk about different
cultures: she is singing in French, you can hear that there is a very
African undertone and then there is her American accent and the universal
accent of loss, of the soul that she has – just so beautiful.
"Blue
Damascus (Woman)", 2004 / "Blue Damascus (Man)", 2004
Courtesy:
Chris Ofili- Afroco & Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin
©Chris
Ofili
Let’s end with a nasty question. In
your paintings, Adam and Eve are black and paradise seems to be in Africa.
Men look like warriors or prophets, women are seductive "goddesses" and
nude dancers. These gender roles seem quite conservative to me – far away
from utopia. Why do you work with these traditional role models?
I
am glad that you’ve seen that, and that you are asking that question.
Because I see it too. And I think this is really straight. It is like a
straight traditional setting. Maybe that’s inside me. Maybe it is
something that I have.
"Blind
Leading Blind", 2005
Courtesy:
Chris Ofili- Afroco & Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin
©Chris
Ofili
By birth?
[Laughs] No. I
don’t know. I am not putting the responsibility on anyone else. Actually,
I’m not even trying to say anything major about gender roles in my
painting. A lot of the discussions are with art history – looking at old
images, seeing depictions of Adam and Eve, talking to those artists – like
William Blake. In my paintings woman take on the traditional role of
sexual temptresses.
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"Her Gift", 2005
Courtesy:
Chris Ofili- Afroco & Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin
Copyright:
Chris Ofili
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It seems to me that you re-interpret art history when
you load European imagery with contemporary music and African culture: you
get something back, put things in the right place, ask questions about
racial and sub-cultural identity, but you leave out the gender roles
entirely.
What you say is really interesting. I recently
started studying traditional Japanese erotic woodblock prints because I
think I can make a bit more progress in that area. Because there is
something I am aware of there and I really want to explore it a bit
further. When you look at those woodblock prints – they’re very sexual,
very transgressive. They address every kind of sexual orientation. I don’t
really have a good answer to your question, but I see the question is
there.
"Silver
Nude One", 2005
Courtesy:
Chris Ofili- Afroco & Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin
©Chris
Ofili
Am I the first one to ask this
question?
The first one besides me. I am aware of this issue.
But I am patient. I don’t force the things I do.
It seems
like your work is in a phase of transition.
I think exhibitions
are displays of transition. If you’re alive, I hope you are always moving
and changing. Looking at things is actually a way to see how you have
moved.
[1]
[2]
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