By the light of a golden moon, two figures interweave their limbs and lips, bound together by shimmering serpents. In the distance, a bold pyramid rises on the horizon. Part of a series titled “Afro Lunar Lovers,” Ofili borrowed inspiration and archetypes from travel brochures as well as from biblical depictions of Adam and Eve. A looming edifice and the blackness of the ground suggests what the title confirms—that this story has a distinctly African context in which Ofili takes intentional pride as someone of Afro-Caribbean descent. The series was part of a larger exhibition by the artist titled “Within Reach,” a gesture to the utopian paradise he hopes might exist beyond racism and conflict.

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