Watching Suzanne (front) 6
Watching Suzanne (front) 6
Signed Mixed Media
Julian Opie
Price data unavailable
AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
There aren't enough data points on this work for a comprehensive result. Please speak to a specialist by making an enquiry.
Medium: Mixed Media
Edition size: 25
Year: 2006
Size: H 83cm x W 57cm
Signed: Yes
Format: Signed Mixed Media
TradingFloor
Track this artwork in realtime
Watch artwork, manage valuations, track your portfolio and return against your collection
Meaning & Analysis
This mixed media print, Watching Suzanne (front) 6 is from Julian Opie’s Watching Suzanne series, featuring a black and white line drawing of a woman’s torso and thighs, with her arms lifted up. Wearing only her underwear, Opie creates a highly simplified composition through his use of bold line and smooth image surface.
Watching Suzanne (front) 6 captures a fleeting moment in time, as considered within the series as a whole, the figure seems to sway from side to side. This series is characteristic of Opie’s desire to capture movement as a way to differentiate between people and to strike a balance between stylisation and realism. For Opie, movement itself is a form of realism in relation to the human form.
As a computer-generated image, rendered in such a way that the figure appears more like a sign than an individual, Opie produces a depersonalised portrait of a stereotypically attractive woman. Showing only the model’s torso, thus leaving out her face and other details that may distinguish the figure, Opie anonymises the image and forces the viewer to consider why they find this image so alluring.
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.
