Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art Blog: Art Exhibit

Throughout art history, the self portrait has been a complex subject. A challenging feat for many artists, the art form is one of the most personal and intentional methods of self expression.

Julian Opie's self portrait entitled Julian is on display as part of current exhibition, Color. The portrait is distilled into Julian Opie's signature style, described by clean, simple lines, and deliberate blocks of contrasting color.

Opie was born in 1958 in England. He received his education from Goldsmith's school of Art in 1982. His work spans that of multiple disciplines. He is perhaps most well-known for his process of digital manipulation, through which he distills photographs of chosen subject matter, reducing the content to its purest and most essential form. Although his process is reductive, the portraits are imbued with a wide range of emotion from aloof coldness to psychologically penetrating glances --all within a narrow economy of pictorial means. Blurring the lines between illustration, environmental design, and fine art, Opie has managed to further refine and update the visual clarity and bold impact of 1960s Pop Art.

Opie's work is held in important collections including those at: The Tate Gallery, London; The National Museum of Art in Osaka, Japan; and The Museum of Modern Art in New York.

This work will be on display through April 18, 2014.

What thoughts or feelings come to mind as his self portrait stares back at you?

Julian Opie / "Julian" / 2013 / Archival inkjet laminated to glass and back with dibond presented in a powder coated aluminum frame designed by the artist / Edition of 35

For more information about the artist or this work, please visit the Julian Opie artist page.

MARCH 2 – APRIL 11, 2014

Color became the hallmark of painting in the 1960s when a succession of movements—ranging from Color Field to Pop—marked the triumph of American art as an international phenomenon. Pop Art took the vibrant, garish color of advertising and turned it into a positive creative statement. At the same time, abstract painters began to explore color’s sensual and emotional impact as a visceral experience. Since this exciting era, artists have continued to use and work with color as an expression of passion, beauty, and unbridled excitement.

Color surveys Post-War contemporary American and European works by well-known Abstract Expressionists, Pop artists, and Photorealists including: Sam Francis, Paul Jenkins, Robert Motherwell, Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, Tim Bavington, David Hockney, Tom Wesselmann, Jim Dine, Julian Opie, Niki de Saint Phalle, Ben Schonzeit, Robert Gniewek, and David Parrish. These artists communicate through the fundamental language of color. While their works delight the eye, they also possess a resonance based on the deep emotional impact of pure pigment.

Color will be on view through April 11, 2014.