Julian Opie, 1958

Julian Opie studied at Goldsmiths University’s Department of Art in London. Drawing inspiration from billboards, 18th century portraiture, popular comic books and Japanese woodprints, he works in a variety of media from screen-printing to digital.

Opie’s work is based on the idea of representation; he seeks to show the viewer’s perception of an image, rather than its “reality”. By minimalizing the details of his figures and interpreting them graphically, he accentuates the modes of representation of reality. Opie reduces his human figures to mere symbols or signifiers by reinterpreting them as copies or replacements. He creates characters that are hidden behind their poses; we recognize them only by their movements, gestures and forms. They have the simplified “wiped-clean” faces of people depicted in magazines, movies or on billboard adverts.

“Ann Dancing in Sequined Dress”, with its brightly colored and vivacious main character, uses a computer animation format to create a sense of movement.