JULIAN OPIE, STILL LIFE WITH MUSHROOMS AND COURGETTES, STILL LIFE SERIES, SIGNED DIGITAL PRINT, EDITION OF 40, 2001
Rendered in the style of a 17th century Dutch still life painting, Still Life With Mushrooms And Courgettes is a digital print from Julian Opie’s Still Life series from 2001. The print shows an image of three courgettes and three mushrooms, randomly assembled in a composition against a stark, black backdrop.
Working within the established art historical tradition of still life painting, Opie takes the opportunity in Still Life With Mushrooms And Courgettes to use this subject as a study of colour and tone and explore a more realistic artistic style. Reducing light and shadow into simplified shapes of block colour, this composition toes the line between tradition and contemporaneity in its clever blend of subject matter and style.
Engaging with traditional compositional compositions, this print presents a decidedly modern version of the art historical genre. The vegetables are closely cut around with clean lines so as to isolate them from the empty flattened backdrop, with no shadow or light to contextualise the objects in their surroundings. Furthermore, Opie’s use of bright, saturated colour and his emphasis on using computer technology, works to bring this scene into the context of a 21st century art world.
Find out more about Still Life by Julian Opie.
ABOUT JULIAN OPIE
British artist Julian Opie challenges traditional approaches to portraiture through his digitally designed and seemingly contradictory, depersonalised works. Working also with landscapes and cityscapes, Opie’s highly stylised work involves the reduction of photographs or short films into figurative reproductions created using computer software. The hallmarks of his artistic style are portraits and animated walking figures, rendered with minimal detail in black line drawing. Learn more about Julian Opie.
