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Giuliani was reported as claiming that Ofili had thrown elephant dung at a painting of the Virgin Mary: "The idea of having so-called works of art in which people are throwing elephant dung at a picture of the Virgin Mary is sick." The press also reported that the painting was "smeared", "splattered"
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The work was protected by a plexiglass screen, but was damaged when Dennis Heiner smeared white paint over the canvas on 16 December 1999. Heiner was charged with second-degree criminal mischief, and received a conditional discharge and a $ 250 fine. Scott LoBaido, an artist from Staten Island, was
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that appear in traditional religious art. A lump of dried, varnished elephant dung forms one bared breast, and the painting is displayed leaning against the gallery wall, supported by two other lumps of elephant dung, decorated with coloured pins: the pins on the left are arranged to spell out
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arrested on 30 September 1999 for throwing horse manure at the museum. He accused Chris Ofili's work of "Catholic bashing". Museum guards protecting the painting were quoted as saying: "It's not the Virgin Mary. It's a painting."
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is surrounded by many collaged images that resemble butterflies at first sight, but on closer inspection are photographs of female genitalia; an ironic reference to the
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Following is the record of ownership (provenance) of Ofili's painting showing owners of the painting as well as the gallery and auction house that sold it.
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On a yellow-orange background, the large painting (8 feet high and 6 feet wide) depicts a black woman wearing a blue robe, a traditional attribute of the
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exhibition in London, Berlin and New York in 1997–2000. The subject of the work, and its execution, caused considerable controversy in New York, with
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or "stained" with dung. Ofili, raised as a Roman
Catholic commented that "elephant dung in itself is quite a beautiful object."
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The mixture of the sacred (Virgin Mary) and the profane (excrement and pornography) became a cause of controversy when the
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exhibition moved to New York in 1999. The City of New York and Mayor
Rudolph Giuliani brought a court case against the
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paintings of the Virgin Mary. He has also emphasized the importance of the work depicting a Black
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in 1996 that utilizes elephant dung and pornographic images. It was one of the works included in the
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This article is about the painting by Chris Ofili. For Mary, mother of Jesus, see
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142:. The painting was sold for £2.9 million in June 2015, and was gifted to the
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240 cm × 180 cm (96 in × 72 in)
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The
Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living
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in 2007. It was included in Ofili's mid-career retrospective at
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Ofili’s
Madonna Sets Record at Christie’s $ 150.3 Million Sale
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in
Canberra in 2000 was cancelled after the US controversy.
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The painting on display behind a protective screen at the
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The painting was bought by
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Feminine look: sexuation, spectatorship, subversion
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612:"Chris Ofili. The Holy Virgin Mary, 1996"
210:Ofili has described his confusion, as an
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234:that year. It was included in the
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357:Steven and Alexandra Cohen
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162:. The work employs
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1145:
1138:
1131:
1124:
1117:
1110:
1103:
1096:
1089:
1082:
1075:
1030:Art in Ruins
999:Jon Thompson
898:Stephen Park
883:Abigail Lane
868:Damien Hirst
853:Liam Gillick
813:Adam Chodzko
783:Fiona Banner
730:
704:. Retrieved
700:
675:. Retrieved
671:
661:
649:. Retrieved
645:
619:. Retrieved
615:
591:
579:
571:
563:
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547:
539:
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488:
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326:
325:
304:hammer price
297:
281:Tate Britain
274:
267:
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235:
229:
209:
198:
191:
184:pornographic
166:, including
157:
140:Turner Prize
129:
120:
119:
118:
52:in 1999–2000
43:
18:
1419:Louisa Buck
1353:Frank Cohen
1277:City Racing
1241:Gregor Muir
1091:Bullet Hole
1055:Andy Warhol
994:Ian Jeffrey
893:Sarah Lucas
888:Chris Ofili
833:Tracey Emin
828:Tacita Dean
798:Glenn Brown
483:, pp. 38–41
345:David Walsh
277:David Walsh
164:mixed media
160:Virgin Mary
154:Description
126:Chris Ofili
80:Mixed media
62:Chris Ofili
1566:Categories
1439:Sarah Kent
1331:Collectors
1322:White Cube
1186:Brilliant!
1084:Break Down
1045:Jeff Koons
1018:Influences
948:Gavin Turk
918:Marc Quinn
843:Nick Fudge
788:Henry Bond
724:Art crimes
370:References
351:Christie's
322:Provenance
300:Christie's
287:(MONA) in
220:Old Master
96:Dimensions
1546:Post-YBAs
1510:Stuckists
1495:David Lee
1468:Opponents
1412:Advocates
1348:Eli Broad
1260:Galleries
1214:Sensation
923:Fiona Rae
873:Gary Hume
701:Bloomberg
318:in 2018.
243:Sensation
236:Sensation
226:Reception
212:altar boy
168:oil paint
150:in 2018.
131:Sensation
45:Sensation
1524:See also
1224:Curators
1069:Artworks
972:Teachers
706:30 March
677:30 March
651:30 March
621:30 March
293:Tasmania
205:Zimbabwe
180:map pins
104:Location
776:Artists
542:, 1999)
507:, p. 88
216:hip hop
172:glitter
86:Subject
1541:Momart
1200:Freeze
1126:My Bed
503:
479:
447:
289:Hobart
174:, and
76:Medium
58:Artist
1178:Shows
1161:Tense
1119:House
193:putti
1475:BANK
1133:Myra
708:2020
679:2020
653:2020
623:2020
501:ISBN
477:ISBN
445:ISBN
71:1996
68:Year
314:in
146:in
1568::
699:.
687:^
670:.
644:.
631:^
614:.
603:^
519:,
495:,
377:^
291:,
207:.
170:,
110:,
761:e
754:t
747:v
710:.
681:.
655:.
625:.
25:.
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