’s (b. 1968) atmospheric and enigmatic paintings investigate the intersection of desire, identity, and representation. Portraying characters from a range of aesthetic and cultural sources through a kaleidoscopic visual mode that bridges abstraction and figuration, his works serve as sites for journeys of creative transformation. Born in Manchester, England, Ofili received his BFA from the Chelsea School of Art, London, in 1991 and his MFA from the Royal College of Art, London, in 1993. He has been working with David Zwirner since 2005.

, a major site-specific mural by Ofili, was unveiled at Tate Britain, London, and will remain on long-term view. In 2022, the Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, presented 

, in conjunction with a yearlong festival centered on Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s Shakespeare-inspired jazz piece. In 2017, the National Gallery, London, presented 

, which marked the first time the artist had worked in the medium of tapestry. In 2012, Ofili designed sets and costumes for 

, a collaborative interdisciplinary project organized with The Royal Ballet in London. The artist’s first major solo museum exhibition in the United States, 

 (2014–2015), was held at the New Museum, New York, and subsequently traveled to the Aspen Art Museum in Colorado.

Other monographic exhibitions have taken place at the Arts Club of Chicago (2010); Tate Britain, London (2005 and 2010); Kestner Gesellschaft, Hanover, Germany (2006); and The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York (2005). In 2015, Ofili’s work was included in 

, the International Art Exhibition of the 56th Venice Biennale, curated by Okwui Enwezor; and Ofili represented Britain at the British Pavilion, 50th Venice Biennale (2003). In 2017, Ofili was a recipient of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE), and in 1998, he was awarded the prestigious Turner Prize.

The artist’s works are represented in prominent institutional collections worldwide, including The British Museum, London; The Broad, Los Angeles; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Centre national des arts plastiques, Puteaux, France; The Dakis Joannou Collection, Athens; Dallas Museum of Art; Fortress House Museum, Gibraltar; Glenstone Museum, Potomac, Maryland; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museu Coleção Berardo, Lisbon; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; National Portrait Gallery, London; Pérez Art Museum Miami; Royal College of Art, London; Rubell Museum, Miami; Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection, Helsinki; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; Tate, United Kingdom; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art, Cape Town.

Portrait of Chris Ofili, 2017. Photo by Carlos Arias

Fred Moten is professor of performance studies and comparative literature at New York University. He is interested in social movement, aesthetic experiment, and Black studies. Moten has written a number of books of poetry and criticism, the latest of which—co-authored with Stefano Harney—is 

Fred Moten

, a new series from David Zwirner Books, brings the world’s leading contemporary artists together with William Shakespeare. Featuring covers designed by the artists and illustrations throughout, these editions of Shakespeare’s plays are created with a whole new generation in mind, one of readers and art lovers alike.

Seeing Shakespeare

By William Shakespeare. Illustrated by Chris Ofili. Introduction by Fred Moten

 remains one of Shakespeare’s most contemporary and moving plays, with its emphasis on race, revenge, murder, and lost love. Chris Ofili’s new edition highlights the tragedy of Othello’s plight in ways no other volume of this play has.

In the twelve etchings Ofili has produced to illustrate this play, Othello is depicted with tears in his eyes, which flow below various scenes visualized in his forehead. Ofili asks us to see in 

 the great injustices that still plague the world today. These images add feeling to Shakespeare’s words, and together they form their own hybrid object—something between a book and a visual retelling of the tragedy. With a foreword by the renowned critic Fred Moten, this edition is the first of its kind and puts Othello’s blackness and interiority front and center, forcing us to confront the complex world that ultimately dooms him.

Dialogues:
The David Zwirner Podcast
Chris Ofili and Emily Wilson

 in front of an audience at the 69th Street gallery in New York, artist Chris Ofili and classicist Emily Wilson encounter religion, art, personal history, gender issues, Trinidad, Greece, truth, and lies.

William Shakespeare × Chris Ofili: Othello

William Shakespeare × Chris Ofili: Othello | Books

David Zwirner is an art gallery with locations in New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris and Hong Kong. We present physical and online exhibitions, podcasts, books, and more.