Paper Head 8
Paper Head 8
Signed Print
Julian Opie
POA
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Relief print, 2019
Signed Print Edition of 50
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Meaning & Analysis
Paper Head 8 is a signed relief print made by British artist Julian Opie in 2019. The print comes in an edition size of 50 and can be seen alongside seven other laser cut archival Museum Board reliefs in Opie’s Paper Heads collection. In this print, Opie produces a portrait of an anonymous figure. Captured side-on, the sitter appears to be looking out to the left of the composition. Opie renders the sitter using thick, black, curved lines which are filled with blocks of colour. Opie uses a light beige for the face, white for the hair and blue for the sitter’s body. The figure is set against a bold, green backdrop.
The person’s face in Paper Head 8 is reduced to a simplified form, void of any distinguishable characteristics. The person is not given any facial features from which the viewer could identify their age or gender. This print is exemplary of Opie’s distinct visual language which is characterised by his use of simplified forms rendered using thick black lines filled with bold blocks of colour.
Each print in the Paper Heads collection depicts a person, always from shoulders up, looking side-on. The collection differs from Opie’s other artworks depicting anonymous figures, such as Standing People and Tourists, which show more of the people’s bodies, enabling the viewer to piece together more information regarding their identities.
