Meaning & Analysis

Finn is a signed digital print made by Julian Opie, one of the leading artists of the New British Sculpture movement. Produced in 2013 and coming in an edition size of 4, the print shows the portrait of a young man. The title of the artwork suggests his name is Finn. The sitter is captured staring straight ahead, out of the composition, and locking eyes with the viewer of the print. The simple facial expression is captivating and seizes the viewer’s attention.

The portrait of Finn is rendered in Opie’s signature artistic style, characterised by his simple approach to drawing figures, reducing them to thick outlines filled with colour which are then set against block colour backgrounds. The result of this visual style is that Opie’s portrait appears one-dimensional, flat and lacking in depth. In Finn, Opie experiments with shading, moving away from his conventional approach of privileging one block colour to fill in the figures he outlines.

Opie has produced many portraits throughout his artistic career. The artist studied at Goldsmiths college and was heavily influenced by his teacher, conceptual artist Michael Craig-Martin, whose ideas around representation and semiotics had a significant impact on the development of Opie’s minimal style. As well as creating portraits of ordinary people, Opie has been commissioned to produce famous portraits. One of Opie’s most notable works is his portrait of James Dyson which hangs in the National Portrait Gallery as well as his portraits of the iconic British rock band, Blur.