1968 born Manchester, lives and works.

Chris Ofili came to prominence in the early 1990s with his densely orchestrated paintings. He won the Turner prize in 1998 and has exhibited in many international institutions over the past decade. He was selected to represent Britain at the 50th Venice Biennale in June 2003 where he presented his ambitious exhibition Within Reach. Ofili's paintings exalt in the power of colour, decoration and sexuality. They are intensely laboured, with intricate details of dots of acrylic and oil paint, collaged images, glitter and map pins, forming vast patterns sunk into layers of glossy resin. Close up the viewer is lost in myriad veins of paint but from a distance all is resolved in graceful, line drawn compositions. Varnished balls of elephant dung are applied on top of the picture, punctuating nodal points of the image. Elephant dung balls also support the canvas, both elevating if from and grounding it to the earth.