CHRIS OFILI

Joyful Sorrow David Zwirner 14 October–30 November 2024 Paris

Press Release

Joyful Sorrow, Chris Ofili’s first solo presentation in France, comprises a new series of paintings, titled Othello—Shroud, which develops the artist’s relationship with William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice (1603–04). This two-site exhibition is staged in partnership with Victoria Miro, which presents its other constitutive iteration, featuring a series of works on paper titled Othello—Reflection, in its Venice gallery from October 26 to December 14, 2024. These exhibitions are commemorated with a joint publication in collaboration with the scholar, poet, and writer Jason Allen-Paisant, now available to order.

About the Artist

Chris Ofili creates intricate, kaleidoscopic paintings and works on paper that deftly merge abstraction and figuration. Ofili rose to prominence in the 1990s for his complex and playful multi-layered paintings, which he bedecked with a signature blend of resin, glitter, collage, and, often, elephant dung. His recent works—vibrant, symbolic, and frequently mysterious—draw upon the lush landscapes and local traditions of the island of Trinidad, where he has lived since 2005. Employing a diverse range of aesthetic and cultural sources, including, among others, Zimbabwean cave paintings, blaxploitation films, Italian soccer player Mario Balotelli, and modernist painting, Ofili’s work investigates the intersection of passion, identity, and representation.

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Also Exhibiting at David Zwirner

All Exhibitions

GROUP EXHIBITION In Solidarity: A Benefit for the American Immigration Council and Journey’s End Refugee Services David Zwirner 1–31 July 2026 New York: 19th Street

MICHAËL BORREMANS French Painting David Zwirner 5 June–22 July 2026 Paris

STEVEN SHEARER My Moody Muse David Zwirner 4 June–31 July 2026 London

GROUP EXHIBITION California Light and Space (The 21st Century Version) David Zwirner 4 June–1 August 2026 Los Angeles

About the Gallery

Since opening its doors in 1993, David Zwirner has been home to innovative, singular, and pioneering exhibitions across a variety of media and genres. The gallery has helped foster the careers of some of the most influential artists working today, and has maintained long-term representation of a wide-ranging, international group of artists and estates. Based in New York with spaces in Chelsea and the Upper East Side, David Zwirner expanded to Europe in 2012 with a gallery in an eighteenth-century Georgian townhouse in London’s Mayfair district, and opened its first gallery in Asia in January 2018 in Central Hong Kong.

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Address

108 rue Vieille du Temple
Paris
France

Opening Hours

Tuesday – Saturday
10am – 6pm

David Zwirner

108 rue Vieille du Temple, Paris, France

+33 (0)1 85 09 43 21
http://www.davidzwirner.com

Opening hours

Tuesday – Saturday
10am – 6pm

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