London – “Chris Ofili: To Take and To Give” at Victoria Miro, Through November 10th, 2012
Tuesday, November 6th, 2012
Chris Ofili, installation view(2012) courtesyVictoria Miro/The National Gallery
Chris Ofili’s latest collection of works on display at Victoria Miro in London are actually intended for use as backdrops for a collaborative piece that involved The Royal Opera House, The Royal Ballet and the National Gallery. The project, involving artists, choreographers and dancers, depicts scenes from Ovid’s Metamorphosis that were in turn been recreated by Titian in a trilogy of paintings recounting stories of Diana and Actaeon, Diana and Callisto and The Death of Actaeon.
The narratives recall Diana’s nude encounter with Actaeon upon which she turns him into a deer and he is consequently killed by his fellow hunters; the revelation that Callisto, one of Diana’s nymphs who is sworn to chastity, is impregnated by the god Jupiter and subsequently banished; and finally a depiction of Actaeon’s gory death.
Chris Ofili, Stag (2012) courtesy Victoria Miro/The National Gallery