Chris Ofili - The Upper Room

Caught this on its last day on display at Tate Britain (along with the mildly disappointing Tate Triennial). The Upper Room consists of thirteen paintings displayed in an environment especially designed by the architect David Adjaye. Each painting shows a rhesus macaque monkey, and each is dominated by a different colour, identified in Spanish on the elephant dung supports. The arrangement of twelve canvases flanking a thirteenth larger one suggests Christ and his Apostles, and within the architectural space and lighting this looks like a chapel with stained glass windows (aided by the use of resin and glitter). The individual paintings have layers of work and material and while by themselves are great works, exhibited like this are extraordinarily beautiful. I'm really pleased Tate Britain bought these and only now disappointed that they don't form part of a more permanent exhibition - perhaps nearby Tate Modern's Rothko murals.