Julian Opie. Walking figures
La Galleria Bonomo è lieta di annunciare l’apertura della mostra personale di Julian Opie che si inaugura giovedì 11 maggio 2023 dalle ore 15 alle ore 21.
In occasione della quarta mostra personale presso la Galleria, Julian Opie presenta le sue nuove walking figures, tredici opere raffiguranti persone in movimento riprese dalla strada. Ogni figura è del tutto unica con il suo stile che si distingue attraverso l’abbigliamento, il movimento del corpo, gli oggetti o i semplici accessori. I protagonisti sono colti nella loro quotidianità, gente che cammina con uno scopo ben preciso spesso stringendo in mano il telefono o leggendo una e-mail. I soggetti sono rielaborati dall’artista che arriva all’essenza della forma attraverso un processo di minimalizzazione del segno. Ne scaturiscono opere che, seppure stilizzate, non perdono né in espressività né in peculiarità e la cui freschezza è esaltata anche dall’estrema immediatezza con cui si offrono allo spettatore. Definite “icone moderne” di ulna realtà generica e generalizzata, le opere di Opie pongono alla ribalta problemi legati alla psicologia della percezione e alla pratica della conoscenza approfondendo l’ambiguo rapporto tra la realtà e il suo corrispettivo feticcio. Reso con la tecnologia digitale, il mondo di Opie è, di fatto, una meditazione sul gioco complesso fra la natura e l’artificio, tra il segno e la realtà osservata e sperimentata. La mostra è presentata da un testo di Valentino Catricalà, direttore della SODA Gallery di Manchester.
Julian Opie è nato nel 1958 a Londra e si è laureato nel 1983 alla Goldsmiths School of Art, studente di Michael Craig-Martin. Vive e lavora a Londra.Opie ha esposto ampiamente nel Regno Unito e a livello internazionale, con importanti mostre in musei come: Kunstverein di Colonia, Hayward Gallery e ICA a Londra, Lehnbachhaus a Monaco di Baviera, K21 a Dusseldorf, MAK a Vienna, Mito Tower in Giappone, CAC a Malaga e IVAM a Valencia, MoCAK a Cracovia, Tidehalle a Helsinki e Fosun Foundation a Shanghai, Suwon IPark Museum of Art in Corea.Opie ha presentato numerosi progetti pubblici in città di tutto il mondo, in particolare: Dentsu Building a Tokyo (2002), City Hall Park a New York (2004), Mori Building, Omotesando Hill in Giappone (2006), Fiume Vltava a Praga (2007), Phoenix Art Museum USA (2007), Dublin City Gallery in Irlanda (2008), Seoul Square in Corea del Sud (2009), Regent’s Place a Londra (2011), Calgary, Canada, The Lindo Wing, St Mary’s Hospital, Londra e più recentemente installazioni permanenti presso SMETS in Belgio, PKZ a Zurigo, Arendt e Medernach a Lussemburgo, Taipei, Taiwan e Tower 535, Causeway Bay a Hong Kong.Le opere di Opie sono presenti in molte collezioni d’arte pubbliche, tra cui Tate, British Museum, Victoria & Albert, Arts Council, British Council e National Portrait Gallery a Londra, The Museum of Modern Art a New York, ICA a Boston, USA, Essl Collection in Vienna, IVAM in Spagna, Israel Museum a Gerusalemme e Takamatsu City Museum of Art in Giappone.
Galleria Valentina Bonomo is delighted to announce the opening of Julian Opie’s solo exhibition at the Portico d’Ottavia on Thursday 11th May, 2023, from 3pm to 9pm.
In his fourth one-man show at the Galleria Valentina Bonomo, Julian Opie will be presenting his latest walking figures – thirteen works featuring human figures seen walking in the street.
Each of them is unique, with a style all their own, expressed in their clothing, their movements and the objects they carry, or simply the accessories they wear. The works’ protagonists are caught going about their daily lives – these are people walking somewhere for a very specific reason, often clutching phones or reading an email.
The artist develops and transforms his subjects, arriving at the essence of their forms via a process in which the marks he makes are reduced to a minimum. The result is works that may be stylised but lose nothing in terms of expressiveness or individuality, and whose freshness is rendered all the more emphatic by the extreme directness with which they present themselves to the viewer.
Opie’s works, which have been described as “modern icons” of a generic and generalised existence, turn a spotlight on questions associated with the psychology of perception and with knowledge-as-practice, delving into the ambiguities of the relationship linking reality and its totemic representations. The world Opie depicts, using digital technology, is effectively a meditation on the complex interplay between nature and artifice, and between signs/marks and reality as we observe and experience it.
The exhibition is presented in a text by Valentino Catricalà, director of the SODA Gallery in Manchester.
Julian Opie was born in London in 1958, and in 1983 he graduated from Goldsmiths School of Art, where he studied under Michael Craig-Martin. He lives and works in London. He has exhibited widely in the United Kingdom and internationally, with major exhibitions in museums including: the Kunstverein in Cologne, the Hayward Gallery and the ICA in London, the Lehnbachhaus in Munich, K21 in Dusseldorf, MAK in Viena, the Mito Tower in Japan, the CAC in Malaga and the IVAM in Valencia, MoCAK in Krakow, the Tidehalle in Helsinki, the Fosun Foundation in Shanghai, and the Suwon IPark Museum of Art in Korea. Opie has made public artworks for numerous cities around the world, notably including works for: the Dentsu Building in Tokyo (2002), City Hall Park in New York (2004), the Mori Building, Omotesando Hill in Japan (2006), the River Vltava in Prague (2007), Phoenix Art Museum USA (2007), Dublin City Gallery in Ireland (2008), Seoul Square in South Korea (2009), Regent’s Place in London (2011), Calgary, Canada, and The Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital, London; and, more recently, permanent installations at SMETS in Belgium, PKZ in Zurich, Arendt & Medernach in Luxembourg, and also in Taipei, Taiwan and at Tower 535, Causeway Bay in Hong Kong. Opie’s works are present in many public art collections, including the Tate, the British Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Arts Council, the British Council and the National Portrait Gallery in London, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the ICA in Boston, USA, the Essl Collection in Viena, IVAM in Spain, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and the Takamatsu City Museum of Art in Japan.
Galleria Valentina Bonomo
Via del Portico d’Ottavio 13, Roma
06.6832766, info@galleriabonomo.com, www.galleriabonomo.com
Orari: martedì – sabato 15.00 – 19.00 o su appuntamento
Ingresso gratuito
Ufficio Stampa: RP/press
Copertina: Julian Opie. Fur collar flared trousers black hair puffer coat grey hair blue jeans. 2022. Autopaint on aluminium. Medium. Floor
