Chris Ofili was born in Manchester, England, in 1968. He began his study of art at London's Chelsea School of Art in 1988 and went to the Royal College of Art in London in 1991.
Ofili often creates collages of various materials that are influenced by cave paintings he studied in Africa during his early career. He also frequently uses material from "blaxploitation" movies, and gangster rap for thematic and collage material.
One of Ofili's most famous paintings is "The Holy Virgin Mary" that went on display at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in 1999. This painting sparked controversy because it surrounded a black Mary with photographs of female genitalia and elephant dung molded into angels.
Following the display of "The Holy Virgin Mary," Ofili was ranked as number 86 on the "100 People Who Are Screwing Up America" list created by Bernard Goldberg, a journalist and political commentator.
In 2005, the Tate Gallery purchased the "Upper Room" works of Chris Ofili. This collection consists of 13 works depicting monkeys. This acquisition sparked controversy as Ofili was on the Tate Gallery board of trustees at the time of the purchase.