Julian Opie | |
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| Born | 1958 (age 66–67)[1] London, England |
| Education | Goldsmith's School of Art[2] |
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Julian Opie (/ˈoʊpi/; born 1958) is a visual artist of theNew British Sculpture movement.
Opie was born in London in 1958 and raised in the city of Oxford. He attendedThe Dragon School and thenMagdalen College School, Oxford, from 1972 to 1977.[3] He graduated in 1982 fromGoldsmiths, University of London, where he was taught byconceptual artist and painterMichael Craig-Martin.[4] He was a Sargant Fellow atThe British School at Rome in 1994.
Julian Opie’s artwork is similar to pop art. Portraits and animated walking figures, rendered with minimal detail in black line drawing, are hallmarks of the artist's style.[5] His themes have been described as "engagement with art history, use of new technology, obsession with the human body" and "work with one idea across different media".[6] Similarly, the national art critic ofThe Australian,Christopher Allen, laments Opie's "limited repertoire of tricks" and described his work as "slight and ultimately commercial, if not actually kitsch".[7] When asked to describe his approach, Opie said "I often feel that trying to make something realistic is the one criterion I can feel fairly sure of. Another one I sometimes use is, would I like to have it in my room? And I occasionally use the idea, if God allowed you to show Him one [portrait] to judge you by, would this really be it?"[8]
In 2007, the four-sided LED sculptureAnn Dancing was installed inIndianapolis, United States, as the first artwork on theIndianapolis Cultural Trail.[9] Opie has also created a monument to singerBryan Adams.[9]
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Opie has presented many public projects in cities around the world, notably in theDentsu Building in Tokyo (2002),City Hall Park in New York (2004), Mori Building,Omotesando Hills in Japan (2006), River Vltava in Prague (2007),Phoenix Art Museum USA (2007),Dublin City Gallery in Ireland (2008),Seoul Square in South Korea (2009),Regent's Place in London (2011), Calgary, Canada (2012), The Lindo Wing,St Mary's Hospital, London (2012) and more recently permanent installations at SMETS in Belgium,PKZ [de;fr] in Zürich andCarnaby Street, London, UK.[citation needed][10][failed verification]
One of Opie's most notable commissions was the design ofan album cover for British pop band Blur in 2000, for which he received a Music Week CADS award. In 2006, he created an LED projection forU2's Vertigo world tour, and in 2008 Opie created a set design forWayne McGregor's balletInfra for theRoyal Opera House in London.[11] In 2010, he was commissioned by theNational Portrait Gallery, London, to create a portrait of the inventor and engineerSir James Dyson, titledJames, Inventor.[12] In 2019, for his former school Magdalen College School, Oxford, he created a digital screen showing two children in school uniform running.[13]
Six of Opie's portraits are in the collection of theNational Portrait Gallery, London: four portraits of the band members of Blur executed in colour print on paper, one of inventor and engineer Sir James Dyson rendered by inkjet on canvas, and a self-portrait,Julian with t-shirt, executed on an LCD screen with computer software.[12] More than two dozen of Opie's portraits, landscapes, and other works are in the collection of theTate[14] and six works are in the collection of theMuseum of Modern Art, New York.[15] Other collections includeVictoria and Albert Museum, Arts Council and the British Council in London;ICA Boston; Essl Collection in Vienna; IVAM in Spain; theIsrael Museum in Jerusalem and Takamatsu City Museum of Art in Japan.
