Julian Opie

The English painter, sculptor and video artist Julian Opie was born in London in 1958 and studied there at Goldsmiths College of Art. He participated in the documenta and the Venice Biennale. Opie's works are shown in numerous museums and collections, including Zurich, New York, London, Osaka and many others.

On the one hand, Julian Opie's unique artistic style is often compared to manga, the Japanese comic books. On the other hand, his style is considered similar to the aesthetics of advertising and posters.

In 1984, the Englishman gained his first international recognition at documenta 8 with his coloured steel objects. He became known to a wider public in 2000 when he designed the album cover for the British pop band Blur. With the help of a computer programme, Opie reduced the facial features of the four musicians to the essentials with black contour lines – a technique he has used for a series of portraits since 1997. "Sometimes when I'm too early for a train or an appointment, I just watch the people passing by and consider what's happening a great random choreography."

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