'Dung artist' Ofili to fly the flag at Venice Biennale

He first made his mark by sticking a clump of dried elephant dung over the breast of a painted Madonna. Now Chris Ofili, the Turner Prize winning artist whose Holy Virgin Mary scandalised New York polite society, has been selected to represent Britain at one of the world's most prestigious art shows.

Ofili, 34, has beaten hundreds of other painters and sculptors to be chosen to exhibit a selection of his work at next year's Venice Biennale. While the Manchester-born artist has yet to indicate which pieces he will actually be taking with him, it is certain that his admirers will not be disappointed.

Last night, staff at the north London gallery where he is based said they expected him to display one of his most recent works: a series of 13 multi-coloured paintings of monkeys inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper.

Victoria Miro, the gallery's owner, said: "We're absolutely delighted for Chris, but we've not even had a proper chance to speak to him yet, so we haven't got any idea what he'll be exhibiting.

"I would think that it will probably include at least one of the pieces we are currently showing upstairs. The monkey paintings are particularly striking."

A graduate of the highly regarded Chelsea School of Art, Mr Ofili went on to study for his masters at the Royal College of Art. He has since exhibited in locations as far apart as Tokyo, Zimbabwe, Berlin and Glasgow.

Dubbed "the elephant man", Ofili staked his claim to be part of the Brit Art establishment when, in 1999, he outraged New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani by showing his notorious Holy Virgin Mary painting at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.

The piece, which depicted a black Madonna with a blob of elephant dung over one of her breasts and pornographic images in the background, was included in the controversial "Sensation" exhibition of young British artists.

Mayor Giuliani, who described Holy Virgin Mary as "sick stuff", threatened to withdraw the gallery's $7m (£4.6m) grant, sack its trustees and disperse its collections if the show went ahead. However, these moves were blocked by a court order that ruled such censorship would breach the First Amendment.