JULIAN OPIE
Born in London in 1958. Opie is known for his portraits consisting of eyes of dots and silhouettes of lines. Although western paintings are generally said to be using colored surfaces, clear outlines were rather common in ancient Greek and Egyptian styles. Botticelli of the Renaissance was famous for line drawings, and the black outlines of Gauguin in Post-Impressionism were described as Cloisonnism. Opie is also known as an Ukiyo-e collector, and he claims to have gained inspiration from Ukiyo-e for his outlines. He is the boldest artist to apply lines and dots in paintings, which is different from the approach of shadows (colored surface) that has been the mainstream of Academism since Da Vinci.
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Title: Lucia, back 3
Year: 2017
Medium: Aluminum, nylon and lights
Dimensions: 120 x 91.6 x 9 cm ( 47 1/4 × 36 × 3 1/2 in.) -
Title: Dance 3 figure 1.
Year: 2022
Medium: Continuous computer animation on LED screen with sound
Dimensions: 100 x 50 x 8 cm (39 3/8 x 19 3/4 x 3 1/8 in.)
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Lucia, back 3
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Year: 2017Probably the pictures coming to one’s mind thinking of Opie are his portraits capturing facial expressions by simple lines and eyes drawn as dots or walking silhouettes. In fact, he also has several works of deformed landscapes or in which facial expressions are not shown. As Opie is described as the artist of simplification, he expresses his target models and scenes using thoroughly simplified lines and dots. However, as it is clear from the titles including names of specific people or cities, his works are honest interpretations of things that really exist, and do not play tricks of any kind at all. The model of this work is a woman facing backward. Her silent appearance drawn from her shoulder to her head gives viewers the opportunity to imagine various personalities. Opie is well known for observing the model extremely to details, especially when creating a work with a person as a motif. He takes countless photographs that are then verified in the graphics. As a result, only lines and slight coloring remains, and that is exactly what expresses something about the person so strongly.
Medium: Aluminum, nylon and lights
Dimensions: 120 x 91.6 x 9 cm ( 47 1/4 × 36 × 3 1/2 in.)
Acquired from MAHO KUBOTA GALLERY, 2022
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Dance 3 figure 1.
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Year: 2022Opie has consistently incorporated elements of motion into his works through animation. His simplified line-drawing portraits of blinking subjects, and his “Walking” series, which captures the smooth motion of people walking, are well-known examples. One of the most noteworthy aspects of Opie’s work is how the artist makes the absolute most of simple lines. Having accurately captured the characteristics of his subjects, he simplifies them and then reproduces the extremely complex facial expressions and movements of the figures through delicate control of the lengths and angles of the lines, the position and size of the dots, and their mutual relationships. The simplification of forms is also a process of abstraction. While abstraction naturally leads to a loss of the subject’s distinctive characteristics, Opie has an eye for the moment immediately before that loss. In this work, the dancing figure is highly simplified, with a round head and a simple silhouette of the body. At first glance, the movements appear mechanical and lack personality. However, “Dance 3” was created as a series of four works, and by comparing the differences with the other three dances that share the same choreography, the “individuality” of the dancer becomes apparent. The light movement of the skirt swaying as the body bounces gently up and down, the twisting of the upper and lower body, and the gentle transmission of energy to the shoulders, elbows, and wrists—all captured with such fine detail that one would think this is a real person dancing. Animation involves the creation of a video by segmenting continuous movement into frames and putting those frames in sequence. Although the human eye can only perceive it as a sequence, the viewer should keep in mind that this work is a product of the accumulation of Opie’s pursuit of precise lines and expressions in each frame, of which there must be tens per second.
Medium: Continuous computer animation on LED screen with sound
Dimensions: 100 x 50 x 8 cm (39 3/8 x 19 3/4 x 3 1/8 in.)
Edition: # 1 of 4 + 1A.P.
Acquired from Maho Kubota Gallery, 2022