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Speed Art Museum Presents Julian Opie: Selections from the Chellgren Collection

The Speed Art Museum presents Julian Opie: Selections from the Chellgren Collection on view through October 16.


Julian Opie (British, born 1958) Siren radio traffic, 2000 Lambda print laminated to acrylic Speed Museum. Gift of Paul W. Chellgren./em>

Julian Opie was part of the New British Sculpture group in the 1980s, exhibiting with artists such as Tony Cragg and Richard Deacon. In the mid 1990s, his work became more graphically oriented, often reducing landscapes, portraits, and objects into flat planes of color, shape, and line in two dimensional sculpture as well as in prints, paintings, and computer and LED animations. He is well known for the album cover he created depicting the members of the Britpop band “Blur” for their 2000 album entitled “Blur: Best of.” His style has been influenced by pop art, billboards, classical sculpture and portraiture, and woodblock printing. In minimizing detail and simplifying form, he draws the essence out of the subject while alluding to commercialization and advertising. This leaves room for the viewer to insert their own experiences into his images, allowing for wider interpretation and appreciation. This exhibition includes series from 2000 and 2002 which include landscapes, cityscapes, interior spaces, as well as portraits of race car drivers.

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