Recent Acquisitions: Works by Julian Opie, Harland Miller and Other Great Modern and Contemporary Artists

With his simplified, signature style, Julian Opie (b.1958) has created computer animated figures that grace the streets of many European, Asian and American cities. 

Like the animated works, his lenticular figures appear uncomplicated, but Opie’s process is complex: He videotapes a model walking on a treadmill at varying speeds. When he views them on his computer, he chooses individual frames that give his work a sense of natural movement. 

Each model has their own unique gait that Opie is able to capture in both his animated LED displays and his lenticular works.

Unlike the animated sculptures, that move on their own, the lenticular works depend on the viewer’s perspective for motion. “I am asking the viewer to interact with the work.” Opie said. “I am predicting what kind of people will look at it and what they will bring to that work. So I am assuming a certain baggage that people bring to these images and I am playing with that. But you can never entirely predict your audience; maybe they will bring something else which will be more interesting.”

We’ve recently acquired four of Opie’s lenticular dancing figures, done in 2023. Each figure is mounted onto white acrylic, measuring 66 7/8 x 36 3/8 x 1 5/8 inches. The movement of each dancer is unique and reflects the individual persona of each model. 

Julian Opie’s work is currently on exhibit in London, his home base. Upcoming exhibits are planned in Boston, Munich, Krakow and Spain.

Other recent acquisitions are: Demons Are Forever, 2024, an etching with relief printing and hand finishing by Harland Miller; Comes A Time, 2022, a silkscreen and woodblock work by poodle-lover Susumu Kamijo; Reflections on Minerva, 1990, a lithograph, screenprint on 3D collage paper by Roy Lichtenstein, Ada with Sunglasses, 1990 by Alex Katz, and two recent acquisitions of works by Andy Warhol: Flowers, 1970 is from the Portfolio of 10 Flowers (an edition of the complete Portfolio is part of the permanent collection of MoMA) and Committee 2000, 1982, which was commissioned by the Committee 2000, a group in Munich, Germany. Warhol took a Polaroid camera to most of the social events he attended and had a large Polaroid in his studio for portraiture. He used a Polaroid print, that he had apparently taken after a celebration, to create Committee 2000, a beautiful still life of after-party champagne glasses and confetti strewn on a table top.

Please contact us if you would like more information about the works available at Vertu Fine Art.