Cloven-hoofed, carnal and knowing, the devil is prominent in all seven of Chris Ofili’s suite of large-scale and deeply complex paintings, The Seven Deadly Sins. As much pagan fertility god as father of lies and temptation, the devil, half-hidden in the undergrowth, lounging in plain sight, or just smelling the flowers, he – and perhaps sometimes she – is everywhere. Sometimes, we just catch a glint of those pearlescent horns, the swish of a snaking tail, which makes its serpentine way through a sensual world of natural abundance and luxuriant growth.
