Tourist With Blouse
Tourist With Blouse
Signed Print
Julian Opie
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105 x 79cm, Edition of 20, Screenprint
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Meaning & Analysis
Taken from Julian Opie’s Tourists series from 2014, Tourist With Blouse is a print that shows a three-quarter length portrait of a woman with her head down looking at her phone. The image is rendered in very thick, bold outlines and blocks of bright colour that is representative of Opie’s graphic style.
Opie’s Touristseries shows various people on the streets of London in colourful clothes and with no facial details, yet each appears as a distinct individual with personality. Tourist with Blouse conveys the idea of a young woman in a city she doesn’t know, looking intently at her phone to figure out where to go next. This portrait is instantly recognisable, an archetypal image of a young person in London, but at the same time represents a distinct portrait of an individual.
Tourist With Blouse plays into ideas that interest Opie around the sitter refusing the viewers gaze, something that one experiences when wandering the streets of a city. The notion of the sitter refusing to have their portrait created injects the print with a melancholic drama that wouldn’t otherwise be felt if the sitter’s face was seen. This sense of melancholy is further emphasised by the sitter’s barely-there facial features, distinguished only by his sunglasses.
Julian Opie, born in 1958, dances through the contemporary art scene with a distinctive digital allure. A trailblazer of the 1980s New British Sculpture movement, Opie's work is a highly stylised blend of Pop Art and minimalism which navigates the intersection of technology and visual expression. From his early experiments with computer-generated art to his iconic portraits and animated installations, Opie's work exudes a captivating simplicity. His signature style, marked by bold lines and reduced forms, is internationally recognisable and has made him a key player in British contemporary art.