Provenance
Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin
Private Collection, London
Acquired from the above by the present owner
Catalogue Essay
“I’m communicating something to do with the way I look at the world. It’s exciting for me that things can have an apparent narrative with many potential narratives within
it. I have my working title, my reading, but then there are many options for how to interpret something.” CHRIS OFILI

Sensual, evocative and alluring, Pramnian Odyssey 2, 2003-11, is exemplary of the rhythmic patterning of painterly and cultural facets that is inherent in Chris Ofili’s oeuvre. Executed in 2003, it demonstrates the artist’s exploration and desire to fuse the binary oppositions that constitute these elements – the sacred and profane,the personal and political, and features from high culture and low culture. Artfully incorporating this into his work, the resulting piece is a dynamic reflection on notions of beauty, whilst simultaneously hinting at aspects of black history, culture and exoticism.

Successfully displaying the artist’s linear grace, the present lot is textured, radiant, rich and absorbing, emblazoned with a near-total environment of red, black, and green. These precise colours act as political signifers for Ofili, and are rooted in the cultural symbolism associated with the Black Nationalist movements, which extendedfrom the pre-World War II era through to the Black Power group of the sixties. Alluding to Marcus Garvey’s United Negro Improvement Association (U.N.I.A.)− a return-to-Africa political movement of the 1920’s− the colours are linked with Garvey’s attempt to posit a radical and alternative historical memory for African American and African Caribbean communities based on a racial connection to Africa. The movement investigated the myth of national origin and the foundation of nationalism− concepts that serve as a recurring, underlying concern in Ofili’s artwork. Marcus Garvey’s explorations undoubtedly goes hand in hand with Ofili’s preoccupation with the idea of ‘looking black’, which is something the artist claims “has to do with the work taking things from black culture and repositioning, re-presenting and reshaping them.” The artist explains that, “[t]hrough this process, the origin of the idea can disappear – for example, with the red, black and green paintings, the specific choice of colours were linked to Marcus Garvey’s expression of the need to return to Africa.” (Chris Ofili, in conversation with Thelma Golden, p.246, Chris Ofili, Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., USA, 2009.)

Large and imposing, Pramnian Odyssey 2, dominates the space of the viewer, confronting us with the very paradigms that seek to confront the most dogmatic preconceptions of black culture, or the construction of ‘blackness’. Whilst comprising of more simplified forms than in his previous works, the black nude female figures are nonetheless just as dramatic, expansive and romantic, standing as clear references to sensuality and sexuality. Ofili places an astute emphasis on the beauty of the female body, attempting to describe it with an exploration of line, form and shape– a focus which recalls that seen in Gauguin’s Polynesian paintings, and Picasso in his depiction of five female nudes in his 1907 painting, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. Ofili, however, places particular prominence on the significance of a black subject: an aspect which speaks to the artist’s endeavour “to make paintings that would look like they were black paintings– ‘Afro’ paintings” (ibid, p. 248). Looking at the way the (black) female form has been dealt with in the past, the artist essentially works to insert something into a historic lineage of imagery, hinging on several historical and conceptual issues, such as rendering visible that which is invisible, and the seeking of social redress. In this way, the present lot– vibrant, technically complex, and meticulously executed– is testament to the legacies of Jean-Michel Basquiat and David Hammons, deftly playing with the idea of the black aesthetic.

20

Chris Ofili

Pramnian Odyssey 2

2003-11
distressed dyed leather, sueded leather and gold leaf collage on board
183.1 x 121.5 x 5.2 cm. (72 1/8 x 47 7/8 x 2 in.)
Stamped with the artist's monogram lower right.

Estimate
£150,000 - 250,000 ♠†

Contact Specialist
Peter Sumner
Head of Contemporary Art, London
psumner@phillips.com
+44 207 318 4063

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London 16 October 2013

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Ryan Sullivan
February 5th, 2011
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Basement Doors
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Dan Colen
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Mark Grotjahn
Untitled (Orange Butterfly Over Green)
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SP83
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Christopher Wool
Untitled (P430)
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Marilyn Will Be Dead Soon
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Thomas Schütte
Sechs Geister (Schwartz)
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Gerhard Richter
Weiß (White)
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Anselm Kiefer
Samson and Delilah
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Richard Prince
Untitled (Cowboy)
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Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled
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Andy Warhol
Untitled (Cars)
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Maurizio Cattelan
Turisti
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Richard Prince
Untitled (Rome After Dark)
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Komar and Melamid
Girl in Front of a Mirror
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Ed Ruscha
Idea
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Yan Pei-Ming
Golden Buddha
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20
Chris Ofili
Pramnian Odyssey 2
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21
David Hockney
The Twenty First Very New Painting
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Andy Warhol
Flower
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Keith Haring
Untitled
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Alexander Calder
The Lion (maquette)
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Sigmar Polke
Untitled
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Peter Fischli and David Weiss
Floß
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Albert Oehlen
Muschel 2
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Albert Oehlen
Ameisen
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Mary Heilmann
It's Raining Today
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Anselm Reyle
Untitled
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Liza Lou
Security Fence
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Jacob Kassay
Untitled
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Thomas Struth
Museo del Prado 5, Madrid
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Ged Quinn
The Ghost of a Mountain
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Marc Quinn
The Antarctic Nurseries of El Dorado (True North)
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Farhad Moshiri
Natural
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Rashid Johnson
Sun Goddess
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Oscar Murillo
Untitled
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Contemporary Art Evening Sale

London 16 October 2013

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Provenance

Catalogue Essay

20

Chris Ofili

Pramnian Odyssey 2

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

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