Julian Opie
02 May - 29 Jun 2014
JULIAN OPIE
2 May - 29 June 2014
Gerhardsen Gerner is very pleased to announce a solo exhibition by the British artist Julian Opie for Gallery Weekend Berlin 2014.
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.
Within the gallery, Julian Opie presents a variation of his movement experiments: Reduced to their contours, white luminescent horses gallop away one after the other on a narrow, black LED frieze; a panel shows an underwater detail in which fish – reduced to only a few strokes – are frolicking; boats rock back and forth on a waterscape; a young woman on a stately, double sided LED monolith walks forward at a hectic pace without actually moving from the spot. On another panel, tree trunks – also digitally animated – move past the eyes of the viewer.
All positions study the movements of objects, plants, animals and humans in the edited style typical of Opie. For the visualization of a type of plant movement, Opie chooses the effect of passing tree trunks. The striped pattern can simultaneously be read as the ultimate level of abstraction on the black and white LED panel.
The second gallery space is dominated by the monumental bust of a boy within another forest panorama of black tree trunks upon a white wall. The bust portrait leads impressively from the iconic depiction of Opie's two-dimensional works into three-dimensionality, without diminishing the significance of the artist's characteristic style.
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 the National Portrait Gallery, London; K21, Düsseldorf; Lenbachhaus, Munich; Tate Britain, London; Museum Essl, Klosterneuburg; MUMOK, Vienna; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; ICA, London; MoMA, New York; Wattis Institute, San Francisco; Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart; Baltic, Gateshead; Deichtorhallen, Hamburg; Fondation Cartier, Paris; Biennale di Venezia, Venice and many more.
The international appreciation of Opie's work is reflected in numerous commissioned works: His large format billboards welcome visitors arriving by train at Autostadt Wolfsburg; Julian Opie created a stamp for the 2012 Olympic Games in London; in 2013 Opie designed 40 illustrations for the private "Lindo Wing" of the maternity ward at St. Mary's Hospital in London.
2 May - 29 June 2014
Gerhardsen Gerner is very pleased to announce a solo exhibition by the British artist Julian Opie for Gallery Weekend Berlin 2014.
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.
Within the gallery, Julian Opie presents a variation of his movement experiments: Reduced to their contours, white luminescent horses gallop away one after the other on a narrow, black LED frieze; a panel shows an underwater detail in which fish – reduced to only a few strokes – are frolicking; boats rock back and forth on a waterscape; a young woman on a stately, double sided LED monolith walks forward at a hectic pace without actually moving from the spot. On another panel, tree trunks – also digitally animated – move past the eyes of the viewer.
All positions study the movements of objects, plants, animals and humans in the edited style typical of Opie. For the visualization of a type of plant movement, Opie chooses the effect of passing tree trunks. The striped pattern can simultaneously be read as the ultimate level of abstraction on the black and white LED panel.
The second gallery space is dominated by the monumental bust of a boy within another forest panorama of black tree trunks upon a white wall. The bust portrait leads impressively from the iconic depiction of Opie's two-dimensional works into three-dimensionality, without diminishing the significance of the artist's characteristic style.
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 the National Portrait Gallery, London; K21, Düsseldorf; Lenbachhaus, Munich; Tate Britain, London; Museum Essl, Klosterneuburg; MUMOK, Vienna; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; ICA, London; MoMA, New York; Wattis Institute, San Francisco; Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart; Baltic, Gateshead; Deichtorhallen, Hamburg; Fondation Cartier, Paris; Biennale di Venezia, Venice and many more.
The international appreciation of Opie's work is reflected in numerous commissioned works: His large format billboards welcome visitors arriving by train at Autostadt Wolfsburg; Julian Opie created a stamp for the 2012 Olympic Games in London; in 2013 Opie designed 40 illustrations for the private "Lindo Wing" of the maternity ward at St. Mary's Hospital in London.