Why is the Small Birds collection so important?

The Small Birds collection was made to accompany Opie’s largest LED based public artwork to date. Australian Birds, which was installed in December 2020, features a series of continuous computer animated birds that Opie arranged on a grass strip between two lanes of traffic in central Melbourne, Australia. To make Australian Birds, pigeons, gulls, ducks, swamp hens, herons and ibis were filmed in Melbourne before being reduced and transformed into Opie’s universal visual language.

How do I buy a Small Birds print?

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How can I sell my Small Birds print?

If you're looking to sell art by Julian Opie click the link and we can help. We employ a number of techniques and practices in order to give a realistic and achievable valuation on any art listed on myartbroker.com. We analyse the demand for the work in question, take into consideration previous sales and auction valuations, we assess the current gallery valuation and monitor the current deals taking place via MyArtBroker every day. We regularly advise sellers on a price bracket for their artwork completely free of charge.

Small Birds by Julian Opie Background & Meaning

Produced between 2020 and 2021, Julian Opie’s Small Birds collection features five artworks, all coming in an edition size of 20. Each artwork in the collection depicts a bird rendered in Opie’s signature artistic style, characterised by his simplified, graphic visual language that resonates strongly with Roy Lichtenstein’s cartoon imagery. The birds featured in the series are a pigeon, gull, duck, hen, and magpie.

The artworks in Small Birds capture the essence of Opie's visual style which was clearly influenced by Minimalism and the Pop Art movement. Opie’s artworks are often identifiable by his use of thick black lines which are filled with solid, flat colours. In the Small Birds collection, Opie uses thick coloured lines to delineate the birds' bodies. Each bird is rendered in two colours, with Opie using one bright colour for the bird’s body, and another for its outline. Opie does not add any detail to the birds he draws, instead emphasising their shape and form. Despite the lack of detail, the birds are instantly recognisable due to the distinct shapes of their bodies, beaks and legs. Each bird is set against a brightly coloured backdrop, reminiscent of Andy Warhol’s Pop Art portraits of famous American stars like Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor.

Opie’s artistic process, which the artist honed over three decades, consists of him taking photographs or short films and reducing them to pure surface and line in order to question how images are perceived and understood by the viewer. This technique and interest explains why all of Opie’s still lives and cityscapes lack significant detail.

As well as being influenced by Warhol’s prints, Opie clearly draws inspiration from Lichtenstein's cartoon and comic book imagery, as well as Patrick Caulfield’s use of bold outlines. Other artistic influences include billboards, Japanese woodblock prints, Egyptian hieroglyphs and road signs. Opie is fascinated with taking inspiration from modern media and technologies and connecting them to classical art history. Opie’s artworks, which he developed out the visual language of modern life, marry tradition with technology and the artist’s chosen medium, from paintings to prints, LED displays to digital video, capture his interest in both high art, design and the vernacular.

The Small Birds collection was made to accompany Opie’s largest LED based public artwork to date. Australian Birds, which was installed in December 2020, features a series of continuous computer animated birds that Opie arranged on a grass strip between two lanes of traffic in central Melbourne, Australia. To make Australian Birds, pigeons, gulls, ducks, swamp hens, herons and ibis were filmed in Melbourne before being reduced and transformed into Opie’s universal visual language.
Discussing the project and the appeal of using birds as the subject of his artworks, Opie explained: “Many birds share our living space but, thanks to flight, are largely free to ignore us. It seems to me that animals are generally underrated and ignored in such a terrible way – in life and art.” The installation contrasts with the urban environment in which it is set and serves to remind passersby of the diverse wildlife that is native to Melbourne but is often ignored or overlooked.
As well as being seen alongside this impressive installation,The Small Birds collection should also be appreciated as a deeply personal collection. Australian Birds and the artworks in the Small Birds collection were inspired by Opie’s father who grew up in Australia and would recount stories about the wildlife he encountered there. Opie himself saw many of these native birds when he travelled around Australia visiting family.
If you're looking to sell art by Julian Opie click the link and we can help. We employ a number of techniques and practices in order to give a realistic and achievable valuation on any art listed on myartbroker.com. We analyse the demand for the work in question, take into consideration previous sales and auction valuations, we assess the current gallery valuation and monitor the current deals taking place via MyArtBroker every day. We regularly advise sellers on a price bracket for their artwork completely free of charge.