Name: Imagine You Are Driving (Fast) /Jacques/Helmet
Brand: Julian Opie
Rating: 5 (236 reviews)

Track auction value trend

The value of Julian Opie's Imagine You Are Driving (Fast) /Jacques/Helmet (signed) is estimated to be worth between £3,900 and £6,000. This digital print artwork, created in 2002, has shown consistent value growth and has an auction history of three sales since its entry to the market in September 2011. In the last 12 months, the hammer price has ranged from £3,740 in October 2023 to £7,985 in March 2023. The average annual growth rate for this work is -13%. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 40.

Meaning & Analysis

Imagine You Are Driving (Fast)/Jacques/Helmet is one of a series of prints by Julian Opie from 2002 that shows an empty expanse of road alongside a portrait of the famous Formula One driver Jacques Villeneuve. The large expanse of tarmac takes up about two thirds of the print, showing white lines and road markings that follow the rules of perspective to the slightly off-centre vanishing point. The portrait of Villeneuve takes up the rest of the composition, depicted in Opie’s typical simplified style using block colour and bold line.

Opie invites the viewer to step into the shoes of the race driver that he depicts, showing a view of the racetrack from the driver’s perspective. Paired with the print’s title, the world represented in this image is suggestive of computer driving games where the participant goes on a virtual journey. This video game aesthetic is typical of Opie’s landscape work from the late 1990s that encourages the viewer to step into a stylised representation of the world.

Speaking of his work in relation to viewer participation, Opie has said, "I think my work is about trying to be happy… I want the world to seem like the kind of place you’d want to escape into… Mundane things are just as exciting as all the things you might imagine escaping into."

Julian Opie, born in 1958, dances through the contemporary art scene with a distinctive digital allure. A trailblazer of the 1980s New British Sculpture movement, Opie's work is a highly stylised blend of Pop Art and minimalism which navigates the intersection of technology and visual expression. From his early experiments with computer-generated art to his iconic portraits and animated installations, Opie's work exudes a captivating simplicity. His signature style, marked by bold lines and reduced forms, is internationally recognisable and has made him a key player in British contemporary art.