Red White Black Yellow
Red White Black Yellow
Signed Print
Julian Opie
POA
This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
Lenticular, 2020
Signed Print Edition of 25
H 111cm x W 119cm
Own this artwork?
Celine Fraser, Specialist
The
MyArtbroker
Advantage
- Authenticity Guarantee
- 0% Seller's fee
- Powered by our private trading algorithm
Meaning & Analysis
Red White Black Yellow is a lenticular print from Julian Opie’s Standing People series from 2020 that shows four full-length figures in casual poses. As with many of Opie’s depictions of people, each figure is rendered faceless with a blank circle as a head. Despite this, these people are uniquely distinguishable due to Opie’s attention to detail with clothing and each person’s stance or gate.
Red White Black Yellow shows each figure in a different monotone colour as indicated by the print’s title and set against a plain blue backdrop. Speaking of his depictions of people from photographs taken in public, Opie has said, “Each figure throws up surprises and opportunities that I could not invent – a tattoo or a tasselled dress, a goatee or the logo on a T-shirt.”
Captured in the artist’s structured and graphic visual language, Red White Black Yellow encapsulates contemporary city life in a way that makes the viewer think about their own body in relation to the compelling image. Opie rationalises the human form in a decidedly stylised manner, striking a balance between the soft and human, and the hard and artificial, producing an uncanny effect. Undertaking a task that has preoccupied artists for generations, Opie captures modern life in an entirely unique way.
