The Gallery Staff 3
The Gallery Staff 3
Signed Print
Julian Opie
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58 x 94cm, Edition of 20, Screenprint
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Meaning & Analysis
Taken from the artist’s The Gallery Staff series from 2010, The Gallery Staff 3 is a print on glass that shows three men and two women holding poses in profile. The figures in this work are silhouettes, each rendered in all black against the transparent background, enclosed in a black frame.
The Gallery Staff 3 appears static and formal in its composition, with each figure distanced from the other with no overlap. The two female figures form the centre of the composition facing inwards, one sitting on a chair, and the other kneeling with her chin resting on her hand. Standing on either side are the three men, appearing as though they are in the middle of a conversation.
The Gallery Staff 3 explicitly engages with the 19th century art historical tradition of silhouette portraiture, led by artist Auguste Edouart, whereby the new middle classes would commission family group or individual portraits to record a moment in time. Noting the mundanity of this kind of drawing, Opie has said, “It is one of the most common forms of drawing around, certainly in that period from late 18th to early 20th century. It’s so common it has become boring, and it’s kind of boring anyway in the sense that it does not stray much from reality.”