'Holy Virgin Mary' by Chris Ofili (1996)

Winner of the 1998 Turner Prize, Chris Ofili was no stranger to controversy. His use of elephant dung within his creations was, by his own admission, a hook to draw attention to his work. The dung also serves as a reference to his African roots and is essentially a visual representation of Africa, placed carefully into Ofili's paintings, and not, as some believe, thrown haphazardly upon the canvas. Within 'Holy Virgin Mary', Ofili is at his most controversial, depicting the Madonna as an unflattering, dark-skinned image, her right breast (made of dung) exposed to all. In the background we see numerous cut outs of female genitalia taken directly from pornographic magazines. When exhibited in New York, the then mayor Rudy Guiliani found it offensive, but I would disagree. The work is a great example of the use of contradictions in art where sex and virginity, cleanliness and perceived dirt and the image of a dark-skinned Madonna are difficult to digest.

In this quintessentially Renaissance image of the Virgin Mary by Raphael, we see an emphasis on pure white skin, piety and virginity. We see that, much like Carrie Mae Weems' 'Mirror Mirror', Ofili has taken an image of white purity and played upon it to create a striking piece of art. What Ofili ultimately accomplishes is an image that engages with racial prejudice by giving the viewer a stereotype. Ideas of overt black sexuality are emphasised to an extreme and placed before us. By viewing these stereotypes in such a bold way makes the viewer engage with their own prejudices. We are in essence so used to seeing a particular image of the Madonna (and indeed Christ) that we are confused by Ofili's depiction and question the images of the Madonna we have seen previously. We are told that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, yet the most famous depictions of him, and his mother show a purely white skin-tone. Much like Weems, Ofili is engaging with a history of prejudice and Ofili asks if it purely the sexual content that is so striking and controversial. Unfortunately, as is generally the case, controversy comes from misunderstanding and misinterpretation. Ofili isn't being blasphemous but playing with racial stereotypes and forcing us to converse with our own ideas of religion and race.