Classic mythology can offer great inspirations to creative minds: in 2012 Turner Prize-winning artist Chris Ofili took part in an exhibition at London's National Gallery that featured three contemporary artists responding to Titian's great paintings depicting classical stories from the Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphoses.
Ofili is back at the National Gallery with "Weaving Magic", a new body of works that culminates in a sort of mythological tapestry, "Caged Bird's Song". The latter is commissioned by The Clothworkers' Company and made in collaboration with the master weavers at the Edinburgh-based Dovecot Tapestry Studio.
The works on the walls of the National Gallery's Sunley Room should be interpreted as preparatory sketches for the final watercolour that was then turned into a textile work of art.
The various characters that Ofili incuded in the work - figures that he calls "contemporary demigods" - are interpreted in different ways in the sketches.
The tapestry is set in the Trinidadian landscape where Ofili now lives and works and can be broken into several vignettes: a barman (black Italian footballer Mario Balotelli, whose head appears in several interpretations among the drawings) is shaking and pouring a drink that seems to form a waterfall.
The water ends up in a glass held by a woman lying on a beach with her naked partner who is playing a stringed instrument. From the sides of the tapestry two figures look at the scene, a woman in evening wear and a man carrying a birdcage.
While one inspiration for the title may be Maya Angelou's 1969 autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the tapestry is an imaginative work of art that at times calls to mind the tropes and colours of the costumes and sets Ofili designed for the Royal Ballet a few years ago.
The tapestry stimulates the imagination and the senses as visitors may easily imagine the sounds of the man playing, the waterfall splashing and the bird singing, but the most interesting thing remains its eye-catching combination of colours.
Five master weavers at Dovecot Tapestry Studio in Edinburgh - Jonathan Cleaver, Freya Sewell, Emma Jo Webster, Louise Trotter and Naomi Robertson - transferred the work from a watercolour and rendered it in wool and viscose.
Tropical shades of royal lilac, blue atoll, island green and acid yellow seem to prevail, but the weavers also played with nuances, at times breaking one colour into five different threads to come up with multiple shades.
In a press release Ofili states: "'The Caged Bird's Song' is a marriage of watercolour and weaving. I set out to challenge the weaving process, by doing something free-flowing in making a watercolour, encouraging the liquid pigment to form the image, a contrast to the weaving process. With their response, which is an interpretation rather than a reproduction, the weavers have paid a type of homage to the watercolour that I gave them as well as to the process of weaving."
This is the first time Ofili works with tapestry, and the exhibition could also be considered as a way to discover the various phases behind one work and appreciate the amount of time it takes to complete an artwork, in this case around two and a half years (definitely a lesson for many involved in the fast and furious fashion industry).
"We were thrilled when the Clothworkers' Company embraced Dovecot's proposal for a Chris Ofili designed tapestry for their Livery Hall, and by Chris' interest in accepting the commission," Dovecot Studios Director David Weir stated. "Chris' instinctive response to the medium and openness to collaborate is wonderful. The time taken for thoughtful interchanges with the weaving team to understand the medium, have resulted in an extraordinarily beautiful design."
Dovecot Tapestry Studio is offering the chance to discover the creative process behind the piece during a one day workshop (Saturday 20 May, 2-4.15pm). Master Weavers from the studio will explain how they created the tapestry; their talk will be followed by a weaving demonstration and a tour.
The weavers will then offer the opportunity to participants to try their hand at weaving on a loom. Hopefully they will also encourage people to do some sample weaving in the same shades employed for Ofili's piece, you can indeed bet that the tropical allure of subtle tones of green, blue and violet will mesmerise the lucky participants.
"Chris Ofili: Weaving Magic" is at the National Gallery, London, until 28th August 2017.
Image credits for this post
1. Chris Ofili
The Caged Bird's Song, 2014–2017, Installation view
Wool, cotton and viscose
Triptych, left and right panels each 280 x 184 cm; centre panel 280 x 372 cm
© Chris Ofili. Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro, London, The Clothworkers' Company and Dovecot Tapestry Studio, Edinburgh. Photography: Gautier Deblonde
2. Chris Ofili
The Caged Bird's Song (Black ink), 2014
Ink on paper
39.6 x 104 cm
15 5/8 x 41 in
© Chris Ofili
Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro, London
3. Chris Ofili
The Caged Bird's Song (She) 2, 2014
Watercolour and charcoal on paper
39.6 x 26 cm15 5/8 x 10 1/4 in
© Chris Ofili
Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro, London
4. Chris Ofili
The Caged Bird's Song (Him), 2014
Watercolour and charcoal on paper
40 x 25.9 cm
15 3/4 x 10 1/4 in
© Chris Ofili
Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro, London
5. Chris Ofili
The Caged Bird's Song (Voyeur), 2014
Watercolour and charcoal on paper
39.4 x 26 cm
15 1/2 x 10 1/4 in
© Chris Ofili
Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro, London
6. Chris Ofili
Balotelli (Cocktail) 2, 2014
Ink on paper
49.9 x 33.5 cm
19 5/8 x 13 1/4 in
© Chris Ofili
Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro, London
7. Chris Ofili
Balotelli (Sweet Cocktail) 1, 2014
Watercolour and charcoal on paper
24.3 x 15.7 cm
9 5/8 x 6 1/8 in
© Chris Ofili
Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro, London
8. Chris Ofili
Cocktail Serenaders 7, 2014
Watercolour on paper
26.1 x 20 cm
10 1/4 x 7 7/8 in
© Chris Ofili
Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro, London
9. Chris Ofili
Cocktail Serenaders (Waterfall) 2, 2014
Watercolour and ink on paper
51.8 x 33.2 cm
20 3/8 x 13 1/8 in
© Chris Ofili
Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro, London
10 and 11. Chris Ofili, tapestry detail, Dovecot Tapestry Studio, 2016
© Chris Ofili. Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro, London, The Clothworkers' Company and Dovecot Tapestry Studio, Edinburgh. Photography: Gautier Deblonde
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