Chris Ofili British, b. 1968

Chris Ofili’s emergence in the early 1990s felt like a bold, defiant response to both Western art history and the limited representations of Black identity in contemporary culture. His paintings from that period are vibrant, dense, and unapologetically layered — visually and conceptually. Ofili is known for his vibrant, layered paintings that blend figuration, ornamentation, mythology, and contemporary culture. He first rose to prominence in the 1990s as part of the Young British Artists movement and won the Turner Prize in 1998, becoming the first Black artist to do so. Ofili's work is both deeply sensual and politically loaded — a celebration of beauty and cultural hybridity, with a sharp awareness of race, colonialism, and art history.