Reed 1

This work was presented at the Julian Opie exhibition “Sculptures, Paintings, Films” (18 October 2014 – 25 January 2015) in the MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow. In this exhibition by one of the most renowned contemporary British artists, MOCAK presented new works, the majority of which were prepared especially for the exhibition in Krakow.

The figures of the subjects were often gracious and solemn. The artist deliberately evoked the spirit of the traditional portrait, explaining: ‘If I make something that looks a bit like an 18th century painting or reminds the viewer of an information screen in an airport, then it’s because I meant it to.’ His inspirations range from Egyptian reliefs and Roman busts to modern-day paintings preceding the 18th century. His style has also been influenced by Japanese Manga, with their flat, dramatic, cartoon-like method of drawing the silhouette, and also by Japanese etchings, in particular 18th- and 19th century ukiyo-e prints. Opie felt a special affinity with such famous artists as Kitagawa Utamaro (1753–1806) and Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858) and it is worth noting that he has a personal collection of Manga and Japanese prints, as well as portraits by Sir Peter Lely, Joshua Reynolds and George Romney, and ancient sculpture form Egypt and Rome.