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the piece did not agree with them, they made the decision for the entire world that it was not art instead of simply being able to disagree with it. Asked to explain his "Holy Virgin Mary," Ofili said in a telephone interview: "I don't feel as though I have to defend it. The people who are attacking this painting are attacking their own interpretation, not mine. You never know what's going to offend people, and I don't feel it's my place to say any more." In this situation it is easy to see how artist must be prepared for all manner of criticism. Ofili has in his possession a Master’s degree from the Royal Art Institute in London. This was a matter of having the Mayor of New York, not an artist in his own right, declaring his artwork as garbage and un-artistic. Like so many non artists, the mayor and others took offense to individual aspects of the work and not the composition as a whole. The pornographic images are not the whole piece. The elephant dung is not the entire image. They are simply supporting aspects to create a larger idea. Artists think composition. They think line and space and color and focus, etc. Lynn Macritchie, a journalist for Art In America stated in one issue, “Chris Ofili's paintings are joyous things to behold. Dotted with bright pastel colors, layered with shiny varnish, sprinkled with glitter, their surfaces seem to dance and dazzle and shimmer and shine. Some even glow in the dark. Complex, decorative and mostly figurative, they are populated with an ever-increasing cast of characters, both real and imaginary. And, oh yes, they are often presented leaning against rather than hanging on the wall, supported on balls of varnished elephant dung, the way that over-stuffed armchairs used to rest on carved wood spheres. Looking at the picture itself, it is obvious the focus is the Virgin Mary herself. The floating images surrounding her are too small to be anything but secondary meaning and aesthetic tokens. Their scale by itself helps to indicate the lack of shock value he was placing into them instead of infusing them with hidden meaning. Also, while true in our society that pornography has a negative connotation the images have been taken out of that erotic environment and have become symbols. The meaning is up to the viewer to decipher. The controversial portrayal of elephant dung among the piece is an example of cultural ignorance. In American society, feces of any type has a taboo, disgusting meaning attached to it. Defecation is done behind closed doors so as to be hidden from others. Laws are placed, requiring pet owners to remove any feces their animals may have expelled. In Africa, however, elephant dung especially is a sacred material and use in many religious rituals. The dung helps to fertilize the earth and helps contribute to the circle of life among the African ecosystem.
Approximate Word count = 1924
Approximate Pages = 7.7
(250 words per page double spaced)
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