Ovid Bather 2012

Chris Ofili painted 'Ovid Bather' with layers of luminous color, a wildness of mark-making that feels both considered and totally free. I can imagine Ofili in the studio, wrestling with this bathing figure, maybe thinking about historical paintings of bathers by artists like Renoir, but wanting to push it somewhere new, somewhere personal. Look at those deep blues and purples that build up the shadows, contrasted with flashes of yellow and green where the light hits. The paint looks almost translucent in places, like you could see right through it, and in other areas built up with intensity, like the palm leaves. I love how the painting is so fluid and dynamic, full of swirling lines. It's as if he's trying to capture a feeling or a memory, rather than just a picture of something. It's like a conversation between the artist, the paint, and the subject—a beautiful, messy, and totally absorbing exchange of ideas.