The Upper Room: Mono Marron 2002

Chris Ofili made *The Upper Room: Mono Marron* with paint, and probably with quite a bit of play. You can see it in the way the colors run together, a dance of reds, browns, and blacks that suggest a space, but also a feeling. Up close, you’ll notice how the paint isn't just sitting there. It's built up, textured, almost like the surface is breathing. Look at that central figure, how it's both there and not there, emerging from the background like a half-formed thought. It's this tension between visibility and obscurity that really grabs me. The way he mixes representation and abstraction reminds me of the work of someone like Philip Guston, who also wasn't afraid to let his paintings be messy, complicated, and full of feeling. Art's not about answers; it's about questions.