$name

Julian Opie is one of the most recognisable figures in contemporary British art, with his distinct visual language blending classical portraiture with graphic design. Associated with the New British Sculpture movement, the artist’s pared-back style takes inspiration from both Pop Art and Minimalism, and encourages viewers to project their own meaning onto his artworks.

Born in 1958, Opie went on to study at Goldsmiths, University of London, from 1979 to 1982. His early works were predominantly steel sculptures, but the artist is best-known for his simplified portraits and scenes. Works such as Woman posing in underwear.1 (2003) and Ruth with Cigarette (2005–2006) exemplify his signature style — faces are reduced to a few defining features, with bodies rendered as silhouettes. By distilling figures into bold outlines, colour blocks and minimal details, Opie’s work balances individuality with universality. This style embodied the artist’s belief that contemporary art should speak directly to its time and showcase everyday experiences.

Opie’s work often caught the body in motion to create these snapshots of modern life — his piece New York Couples (2019), which sold at Christie’s for US$126,000 in 2022, evoked the feeling of being in a crowd while remaining absorbed within your own world. The artist has a particular interest in how we see shapes and colour, and our perception of images. He once said, ‘Everything you see is a trick of the light. Light bouncing into your eye, light casting shadows, creating depth, shapes, colours. Turn off the light and it’s all gone.’

Alongside figuration, Opie also depicts landscapes with the same stylised, visual restraint. View from My Bedroom Window (2007) was a continuous computer animation of an urban scene, shown on an LCD screen. The artist's embrace of new technologies reflects his interest in how contemporary images are produced and shared.

Opie's works have spanned a variety of mediums, from silkscreen to vinyl to LED, pushing the boundaries of traditional artistic practices. His inspirations are also just as vast, including Japanese woodblock prints, Egyptian hieroglyphs, 17th and 18th century portraiture and universal symbols such as traffic signs.

The artist gained further recognition in 2000 when he designed an album cover for Blur, which later won the Best Illustration award at Music Week CADS. One of his most famous public installations is the animated sculpture Shaida Walking, which he created for London’s Carnaby Street in 2015. Further works by Opie can found in art collections globally, including Tate, The Victoria & Albert Museum and The Museum of Modern Art.