Gerhardsen Gerner

Julian Opie Previous Shows 2015

Julian Opie

 
 
 
 

Julian Opie

Exhibition duration: September 24–December 5, 2015


Gerhardsen Gerner Oslo is pleased to announce its third solo exhibition with British artist Julian Opie.

“I had a team filming people walking on the streets of London and, without planning it we ended up filming a lot of people jogging. Once I got around to drawing one of them I realised that these made for a very different artwork from a figure that is simply walking. A running figure has an almost balletic sense of rhythm and grace much closer to an animal than a person. The outfits and paraphernalia of the average runner is brightly coloured and somewhat extreme and emphatic. I found myself using very bright background colours based on public safety signage. 

The running humans can chase each other around the gallery, through the landscape using both still and animated paintings.”

Julian Opie. 2015. 


Through his practice Julian Opie has developed a concise and reductive formal language. Drawing from influences as diverse as billboard signs, sculpture, 17th & 18th century portraiture, popular comics as well as Egyptian Greek and Roman art, Opie implements computer technology by cutting out the outlines and coloured shapes. This enables him to make two-dimensional explorations of his subjects in silkscreen, vinyl, LCD and LED.

Opie is especially interested in experiments on the subject of motion, in which he combines the moving image with his own stylist visual language. For such pieces, Opie works with large flat screens or displays on which computerized animation portrays a permanent, flowing movement. The exhibition at Gerhardsen Gerner Oslo brings together works of such different media as LCD and LED screens, mosaic and vinyl panels, all exclusively studying the human body in walking, jogging or running movement. 


Julian Opie counts among the most important artists of the present day. His work has generated icons of contemporary art and has been shown internationally in all major institutions, including shows at Kunstverein in Cologne, Hayward Gallery and ICA in London, Lenbachhaus in Munich, K21 in Dusseldorf, MAK in Vienna, CAC in Malaga and IVAM in Valencia, MOCAK in Krakow, Tidehalle in Helsinki as well as the Delhi Triennial, Venice Biennial and Documenta.

He has presented many public projects in cities around the world, notably in the Dentsu Building in Tokyo 2002, City Hall Park in New York 2004, Mori Building, Omotesando Hill 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, The Lindo Wing, St Mary’s Hospital, London and more recently permanent installations at SMETS in Belgium and PKZ in Zurich. 


For further information please contact Marina Gerner-Mathisen, Gerhardsen Gerner, Oslo: marina@gerhardsengerner.com or
Maike Fries, Gerhardsen Gerner, Berlin: T: +49-30-69 51 83 41, office@gerhardsengerner.com or visit our website at http://www.gerhardsengerner.com