This Is Shahnoza 5
This Is Shahnoza 5
Signed Print
Julian Opie
Screenprint, 2006
Signed Print Edition of 40
H 57cm x W 136cm
Critical Review
Taken from the artist’s This Is Shahnozaseries created for an art museum in Ontario, This is Shahnoza 5 is a print by Julian Opie from 2006. The series was originally used as a wall drawing for the museum in a room of Henry Moore sculptures, mostly of reclining nudes. The print shows a model depicted in Opie’s linear style, in a series of four static poses dancing around a pole and wearing only her underwear.
For Opie, the use of a pole in this print allowed him to create a more dynamic image full of movement and dramatic poses, without the constraints of any outside objects or background. The model leans against and hangs from the pole in order to show her body in a variety of angles and positions that are dynamic and convey personality.
This Is Shahnoza is exemplary of Opie’s working process that is far more arduous than the print itself reveals. In order to create the series of images, Opie worked with the professional pole dancer for two days, taking over 1,000 photographs each day, simultaneously using two video cameras to capture her movements in real time. Opie then refines what he is going to draw and manipulates the chosen photographs on the computer to produce a variety of graphic images.
