JULIAN OPIE: Shanoza in 3 parts
Dvorak sec contemporary is pleased to announce an inaugural exhibition that will feature works by acclaimed artist Julian Opie.
The artworks on display by Julian Opie at Dvorak Sec Contemporary features linear life-sized images of the pole dancer Shahnoza in four different poses, each divided into three framed panels. His technique involves a unique marriage of silkscreen and flocking, resulting in a rich, black and velvety surface texture to contrast with pure white acrylic support panels - lending a dense and blurred quality to her outline. Flocking is historically associated with wall coverings that became popular during the reign of Louis XIV of France and its use continues, in various forms, to the present day.
The representation of Shahnoza has been a recurring theme in Opie's work and earlier projects featuring the same subject include lenticular acrylics of Shahnoza dancing Naked and Shahnoza dancing in White Dress, which will also be on exhibition. The figure in these works appears to move when viewed from different angles.
Initially taking photographs of his subject matter - be it of people, landscapes or still lives - he then digitally manipulates the photographs and constructs his images by a process of elimination and distillation, and through this practice has developed a concise and reductive formal language. Drawing from influences as diverse as billboard signs, 18th Century portraiture, popular comics and Japanese woodblock prints, Opie 'paints' using a vast array of media and technologies. His works have been realised in silkscreen, vinyl, LCD, LED, lenticular and flocking, and he continues to push the boundaries of ‘traditional' artistic practice.
Also on display will be Antonia with Evening Dress, a piece that was exhibited in 2008 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Vienna. It is a beautiful portrait and moving animation displayed on an LCD screen that keeps with Opie’s tendency to explore the tension between general and specific reality.
Julian Opie is one of the most significant artists of his generation whose artistic preoccupation has investigated the idea of representation and the means by which images are perceived and understood. Throughout his practice, Opie has developed his own reductive formal language which seeks to reflect, not reality itself, but rather the way in which reality is represented: his distinctive language of discipline and formal consistency which is employed in his current portrait and landscape work. Drawing from influences as diverse as billboard signs, classical portraiture and sculpture, to classical Japanese woodblock prints, Opie 'paints' using a variety of media and technologies which enable him to make three-dimensional explorations of his subjects. In 2001 Opie was awarded Music Week CADS, Best Illustration award for his album cover design for Best of Blur. His work can be found in many public collections worldwide including The Tate Gallery, London, The Arts Council of Great Britain, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, and The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Julian Opie lives and works in London.
Julian Opie will be on show at Dvorak Sec Contemporary until June 4, 2009.