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Julian Opie, This is Monique, 2, 2004, Vinyl on wood, medium 88,7 high, large 192 cm high, x-large 345 cm high | | |
Private View, 11. November, 7 - 9 pm
We are pleased to announce the exhibition of new work by Julian Opie. This will be his forth solo exhibition at Galerie Barbara Thumm.
Julian Opie holds an influential position in contemporary British art.
Opie’s work oscillates between minimalism and pop and draws on the aesthetics of early computer games as well as from influences as diverse as billboard signs, classical portraiture and sculpture. His sculptures and paintings from recent years dealt with different categories of modern ways of perception. In his "Portraits" the human face is treated in the same way as were the objects before and is reduced to its basic features. Using computer animation, vinyl and LED displays Opie gives an unexpected interpretation of the familiar classicism of the "portrait" and the landscape image.
In his new body of work, Opie extends his language of portraiture by using a variety of media and technologies which enable him to make three-dimensional explorations of his subjects. For the continous computer animations "Bruce Walking" and "Sara Dancing Topless" the use of multiple images suggests movement and gives the viewer the impression of having "read" the subject from 3 dimensions. Opie experiments also with the integration of sound. "Lindsay talking" is accompanied by repeating stereotypical statements which nonetheless characterize a teenager.
The portraits of "This is Kiera" are represented on monochromous colour fields, the individual traits are reduced to schematic signs. His paintings show the person as a graphic, a logo: man becomes a product. Although Opie is taking his process of reduction to the limit, it is this very reduction that suggests an individual presence of his figures.
Julian Opie lives and works in London. An outdoor installation of 14 sculptures for the Public Art Fund is on view at City Hall Park, New York. In November he is also participating in the exhibition "Funny Cuts. Cartoons and Comics in Contemporary Art" Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. Past exhibitions include "Bijou gets undressed" K21 Düsseldorf, Neues Museum Nürnberg 2003, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham 2001.
With the kind support of The British Council, Berlin.
For further information please contact the gallery at tel: +49-30-283 903
47 or via e-mail info@bthumm.de. |
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