Julian Opie: Nature 1

“I wanted to make a print like a wall drawing that could turn the wall into water or land – that could bend the wall back into the surface of the sea.  By cutting the drawing out of sheet steel and hanging it from hidden fixings it can almost be part of the wall turning the whole wall into the print.”

-Julian Opie, 2015

Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art is delighted to present Nature 1,  a major new body of editioned work by the British artist Julian Opie.

Consisting of 14 laser-cut powder-coated aluminum wall reliefs of boats, pebbles, sheep, and fish, these new works were inspired by Julian Opie’s observations in both London and Cornwall, places in the UK where the artist has homes. Having grown up with art of the post-war St. Ives School, Opie developed a keen awareness of British artists such as Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson. In making these new steel works, however, he has chosen to contrast some of the traditional subjects of British Landscape art with a medium and material which alludes to a more contemporary urban, post-industrial world.

“My sheep are drawn in the language of motorway signage produced on machine made surfaces. The sheep remind you of quiet walks and wind swept valleys, while the LEDs, the shiny acrylic and the powder-coated, laser-cut aluminum are part of the struggle through the airport, underground or high street.”

Born in 1958 in London and a graduate of Goldsmith’s School of Art, Opie reinterprets the vocabulary of everyday life through his typical reductive style and his innovative use of new and traditional techniques. His works are held in numerous international museum collections including MoMA, New York, MFA, Boston, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam and Tate, U.K.

Julian Opie: Nature 1 will be on view from April 6 – May 26.

View Julian Opie’s artist page

Inspiration

We are captivated inspired by Jim Dine's recent shift into abstraction. Who inspires you?

Jim Dine / White Truck on Right-Airport, Far Left / 2015 / Woodcut and power-tool abrasion with hand coloring on Hahnemuhle / 63" x 49-1/4" / Edition of 6

Visit our website for more information: www.novakart.com

JULIAN OPIE SELF PORTRAIT

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.

TOM WESSELMANN SCULPTURE / "HOUSE AND BARN IN THE DISTANCE"

Tom Wesselmann sculpture, House and Barn in the Distance, is one of many beautiful works in our current exhibition, Color.

The sculpture was completed in 1994 and was designed utilizing layers of cut-out aluminum, finished with oil paint. 

Tom Wesselmann, who passed away in 2004, made pivotal contributions to the American Pop Art movement. Distinguished for colorful paintings, sculpture, prints, and drawings that depict nudes, everyday objects and avant-garde abstractions, Wesselmann's graceful line, tight formal compositions and highly polished style are instantly recognizable and visually enticing.

Wesselmann's works are held in major national and international collections including: the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Louisiana Museum, Humblebaek, Denmark; and the Tokyo Central Museum, Japan.

We are excited to present to you, House and Barn in the Distance: a distinguished an important part of our current exhibition.

For more information about the artist, visit our the Tom Wesselmann artist page.

To see other works in the show, please visit our "Color" Exhibition page, closing on April 18, 2014.

Tom Wesselmann / "House and Barn in the Distance" / 1991/1994 / Oil on cut-out aluminum