Julian Opie – Running men

Description

Julian Opie, Running men from his Runners series, is an original screenprint in 23 colours on Somerset Satin tub sized 410 gsm paper, presented in a brushed aluminum frame specified by the artist.  This print is signed and numbered from the edition of 50.

Julian Opie stated the following regarding his Runners series: “I sent two of my assistants out to the park to film people walking and, on reviewing the films, I found that many joggers had run past the camera. Humans are built for running. I have read they can outrun a wolf or a horse over long distances. By drawing one stride with around 30 frames I can set a drawing in motion to run smoothly forever as an animation and, by grouping a few joggers together in a painting, I can create a dynamic, complex composition with implied movement. A second later and the runners would have moved on and the composition, so carefully planned, would be changed and lost. I was thinking of the striding athletes circling ancient Greek vases, and of stone-carved Roman friezes of battling warriors. The random positions of striding legs and pumping arms slice up the space, while hair and phone cables and shoelaces flick and bounce. Sporting clothes and equipment could be the modern equivalent of the armour of the past.”

Julian Opie is a contemporary British artist known for his distinctive depictions of figures, portraits, and landscapes. Julian Opie Running Men is a good example. The highly stylized treatment Opie gives his subjects—whereby features are created by thick black outlines and filled in with solid areas of flat color—is a blend of Pop Art and Minimalism with a wholly contemporary sensibility. “The process of reading things as simulations but knowing at the same time that they are real is quite central to my work,” Opie has observed of his own art. Born in 1958 in London, United Kingdom, Opie studied with Michael-Craig Martin at Goldsmiths in London during the early 1980s. His earliest works consisted of painted steel sculptures exploring the relationship between visual and spatial observation. Over time, the artist has expanded his practice to include painting, installation, and cover art for albums. The artist’s works are part of the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Portrait Gallery in London, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and others. Opie currently lives and works in his hometown of London, United Kingdom.The highly stylized treatment Opie gives his subjects—whereby features are created by thick black outlines and filled in with solid areas of flat color—is a blend of Pop Art and Minimalism with a wholly contemporary sensibility. “The process of reading things as simulations but knowing at the same time that they are real is quite central to my work,” Opie has observed of his own art. Born in 1958 in London, United Kingdom, Opie studied with Michael-Craig Martin at Goldsmiths in London during the early 1980s. His earliest works consisted of painted steel sculptures exploring the relationship between visual and spatial observation. Over time, the artist has expanded his practice to include painting, installation, and cover art for albums. The artist’s works are part of the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Portrait Gallery in London, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and others. Opie currently lives and works in his hometown of London, United Kingdom.

Julian Opie, Running men