CHRIS OFILI / THE NORM OF DISPLAY
Ofili often incorporated elephant dung into his work (Tate 2001). Lumps are attached to the canvas directly or used to support the paintings when displayed in the gallery space (Tate 2001).
Ofili’s method of displaying his paintings got me thinking about how I would display my belemnite paintings within the gallery space. I want to break the norms of displaying paintings and Ofili’s work does exactly that. The norm is to hang the painting on the wall, usually eye level on a white wall. However, Ofili is the first artist I’ve seen who go against the norm, by propping his paintings upon lumps of elephant dung. I wondered how I could break this norm with my belemnite paintings.
Whilst creating my paintings, the canvases would be laid out flat on the floor. This was due to the materials I was using. However, this method made me think about how the paintings would look if they were displayed laid out across the gallery floor. This would reflect the action of belemnite hunting through the rock pools. Looking down over the space, and finding a belemnite inside.
Reference
Tate (2001) Chris Ofili: Artist biography [Online] Available from: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/chris-ofili-2543 [Accessed 07/03/2016].
Ofili often incorporated elephant dung into his work (Tate 2001). Lumps are attached to the canvas directly or used to support the paintings when displayed in the gallery space (Tate 2001).
Ofili’s method of displaying his paintings got me thinking about how I would display my belemnite paintings within the gallery space. I want to break the norms of displaying paintings and Ofili’s work does exactly that. The norm is to hang the painting on the wall, usually eye level on a white wall. However, Ofili is the first artist I’ve seen who go against the norm, by propping his paintings upon lumps of elephant dung. I wondered how I could break this norm with my belemnite paintings.
Whilst creating my paintings, the canvases would be laid out flat on the floor. This was due to the materials I was using. However, this method made me think about how the paintings would look if they were displayed laid out across the gallery floor. This would reflect the action of belemnite hunting through the rock pools. Looking down over the space, and finding a belemnite inside.
Reference
Tate (2001) Chris Ofili: Artist biography [Online] Available from: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/chris-ofili-2543 [Accessed 07/03/2016].