Julian Opie - Esther and Keyush - 2025. SOLD OUT
The two editions are part of a new body of work by Opie depicting school children. They are among the first of his walking portrait works to depict children, marking a new development in his practice. Opie worked with a primary school to capture children from each year group, up to Year 4, walking on film. ‘I found the best method was to walk with them one by one across the school stage while my assistant filmed from the other end of the school hall. We chatted as we went and then they ran around, letting off steam, to join the queue at the start. They were amazingly engaged and present,’ says Opie. The film was meticulously translated into animation to create continuous walking portraits. The portraits share the declarative linearity and flatness of his work in general – the children’s faces and clothes are neutral, but variations in hairstyle, height, clothing and walking style differentiate them. The works follow a scheme, yet each figure holds their individuality.
Opie has been using the medium of lenticular prints to create limited edition artworks, often depicting figures walking or dancing, since 2004. To Opie, the lenticular encapsulates the magic of the everyday. Like flip-books or zoetropes, lenticular prints fool the eye into seeing an animated image through movement. ‘…we perceive movement naturally as a series of still images’ says Opie. ‘Our view of the world is a built illusion, a mental construct, so seeing the illusion taken apart and recreated is a relief, is funny, is thrilling.’
Medium: Lenticular acrylic panel in a brushed aluminium frame specified by the artist
Image size: 80.0 x 49.0 cm
Framed size: 81.9 x 50.8 cm
Edition of 50
Signed and numbered
Price: From £ 4,200
These limited edition Julian Opie prints are now available at Tate
