The British artist Julian Opie is obsessed with the pedestrian as a subject. As I stand in his exhibition at Gallery F 15, I think about how the wanderer has been portrayed throughout the ages in art history: from the leaping hunter on the cave wall of Lascaux to the long, wandering figures in Giacometti’s modern sculptures. With Julian Opie, the walking figure appears in pictures, in animated films and as sculptures. He portrays the busy everyday person in the hustle and bustle of the city. They often have a bag over their shoulder and perhaps a cap or hat on their head. Their gaze is often fixed on the mobile phone, and their ears are plugged. In short, it reflects our eternal race between sunrise and sunset. DOESN’T USE THE THEME: Opie cultivates his static formulas, and with that he surely wants to say something about our own time. I think he gets little out of the exciting timeless theme connected with the wanderer. Photo: Eivind Lauritzen Digital feeling Opie has worked in the field for forty years. There is no doubt that he has developed a distinctive and recognizable aesthetic: a pop-inspired cartoon style, characterized by a radical simplification. The pictogram is obviously an ideal for him. It seems as if he is trying to find out how much he can leave out, before the work no longer resembles what it is meant to represent. Some of the first things that meet us in the exhibition are simplified drawings of people in full quadrupeds. In these sculptures, Opie refers to simple toys where human figures were made only as a drawing on the outside of the mold. These drawings have been converted into wide, three-dimensional blocks that stand in the room. It makes me think of a certain type of toy figure that existed when I was a child. Here, the representation of the figure is not part of the form, but only a drawing on the outside. In a large image that appears to be made of a plastic-like material, we see five pedestrians hurrying away. The figures are designed in relief, and I am told that the surfaces are hand-painted by Opie’s assistants. Nevertheless, I experience it as a computer-generated expression, untouched by human hands. This is typical of much of what he makes. Architectural clichés Julian Opie also creates portraits and sculptures depicting buildings. Outside Gallery F 15 in the beautiful manor garden, he has created a wrought iron structure that resembles a three-dimensional line drawing of various building silhouettes. DISTURBING: As I stand looking at this rather space-consuming installation, which disturbs the view of the sea, I wonder why he would bother me with this. Photo: Eivind Lauritzen I find this expression to be static and form-wise unexciting. Here he takes architectural formulas and clichés as a starting point. Of course, Opie is deliberate in his use of clichés. The generic and clichéd is at the very core of his project. Although his luminous led crows pecking at the leaves between the trees into the Alby Forest also follow a standardized formula, I find them more exciting. Here he has managed to capture something characteristic of the birds. MOSSE CROW: The crow is not made for the exhibition, but it can nevertheless quickly become a popular attraction for mossers who mourn the loss of the crow, which is no longer the city’s symbol after the municipal merger. Photo: Eivind Lauritzen Nevertheless, the interest they arouse is probably of a rather fleeting kind. It is unlikely to be a work I will think back on much. A large VR installation is undoubtedly a boost for the exhibition. Here I wander around a museum and get to experience Opie’s pedestrians, birds and houses in a much larger format. Actually, this is just more of the same, but if nothing else, this is an element that makes the exhibition fun for children. COOL: With Opie, there is something cool and absent that makes it uninteresting. Photo: Eivind Lauritzen Soulless success Julian Opie probably began his artistry with a genuine interest in the transition between line and space, drawing and sculpture. But as he has perfected his style, his work today appears more as the result of production than as something that springs from an investigation. His expression is undoubtedly stylish and well-formed, but artistically speaking it is, in my eyes, quite uninteresting. Nor is it particularly innovative; graphic designers have been working on these issues for a hundred years. – These wooden sculptures are some of the finer things he has created. Here the material brings in something alive and organic, but the figures themselves are also a little more expressive. Photo: Eivind Lauritzen Julian Opie is a highly acclaimed artist who has had great international success. It is a mystery to me what makes this shallow artistry so terribly popular. I myself experience it as a soulless universe where no one is at home. news reviewer Title: Julian Opie: JO.VR/GF15@Moss Curator: Dag Sveinar Museum/Institution: Galleri F 15 Time range: 21.10.23 – 6.3.24 Estimated time: 40 – 60 minutes
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“JO.VR/GF15@Moss” by Julian Opie – Reviews and recommendations
