Chris Ofili: Weaving Magic

The National Gallery presents Turner Prize-winning artist Chris Ofili’s new work, his first foray into the medium of tapestry. Ofili is returning to the National Gallery following the exhibition Metamorphosis: Titian 2012.

Chris Ofili has been collaborating with the internationally renowned Dovecot Tapestry Studio to create the work which will be completed in spring 2017.

Like Rubens, Goya and many artists before him who have engaged with this medium, Ofili has been working closely with master weavers to see his design translated into a hand-woven tapestry. The imagery reflects Ofili’s ongoing interest in classical mythology and contemporary ‘demigods’, together with the stories, magic and colour of the Trinidadian landscape he inhabits.

The tapestry will be displayed at the National Gallery for four months, alongside Ofili’s preparatory design and sketches.

Commissioned by the Clothworkers’ Company, a Livery Company established in 1528 to oversee the cloth-finishing trade in the City of London, the tapestry will go on permanent display in the Clothworkers’ Hall following the National Gallery’s unveiling and exhibition of the work.

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www.nationalgallery.org.uk