Julian Opie

Julian Opie Gilbert ( born December 12, 1958 in London ) is a British painter, sculptor and video artist.

Career

Opie studied 1979-1982 at Goldsmiths College in London. In 1983 he began working with steel, which he formed in various geometric figures, put together and colored anmalte. "In these wall objects made ​​of steel to physicality, mass and volume of the phenomenon associated with. Therefore, they could be abstract and read in the sense of illusion, not as a body, the real propagates in space. " A first exhibition of his work he had in 1983 in Nicholas Logsdails Lisson Gallery in London. In 1984, Wulf Herzogenrath became aware of him, which ( along with those of Tony Cragg ) at the Kunstverein exhibited his work. In 1995 he was awarded the Sargant Fellowship at the British School at Rome and 1995/96 the grant of the Atelier Calder in Sache, France.

Work

In his portrait series begun in 1997, he reduced with the aid of a computer program, the facial features with black outline on the essentials, without losing the distinctive character of the represented person. A popular example of these portraits is the cover art of an album by the British band Blur ( Best of Blur ). The characteristic facial features of people seem to emerge even more clearly by the striking simplicity. He received an award from the Music Week CADS for the best illustration " Best of Blur ".

In recent work Opie brings in these reduced representations of people as a new moment the movement a. This is Kiera (2002) or walking Bryan (2004) show Minimalist figures that are in a permanent move and not move from the spot. For this work, Opie works with large flat screens or displays on which the computerized animations show a permanent, flowing movement. A surrealistic effect results from the spacelessness the diagram as single spatial reference, the enclosure of the display. The animation Lyndsey talking ( 2004) draws the language as a new design element. The schematic representation of the people in the painting and the animations can be understood as a transformation of people into products. In 2005, the rock band U2 a walking man pointed at their Vertigo tour as LED display in her stage show.

He obtained his colored steel objects at Documenta 8 in 1984 first international recognition. Numerous exhibitions followed in prestigious galleries and museums, including the Venice Biennale in 1993, 1999 Lenbachhaus Munich, 2000 Tate Britain, London, 2003 K21 Art Collection North Rhine -Westphalia in Dusseldorf, 2004-2005 animals, cars and people organized by the Public Art Fund at City Hall Park in New York City.

Julian Opie lives and works in London.