JULIAN OPIE, THE GALLERY STAFF 3, THE GALLERY STAFF, SIGNED SCREEN PRINT ON GLASS, EDITION OF 20, 2010
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.”
Read more about The Gallery Staff 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.
