Julian Opie’s Black White Green Yellow, from Standing People, sold for £19,050 at Phillips Evening & Day Editions auction in London on Jan. 17-18, 2024. Opie, a British sculptor, painter and digital artist, is known for creating portraits in which he reduces his subjects to essential color planes and thickly outlined silhouettes. His use of technology has led him to create many public projects around the world, ranging from installations in New York City parks to buildings in Tokyo. In our cover piece, Opie used lenticular technology—the process of using special lenses to create illusions of depth and movement—to depict his four figures.
Opie draws his inspiration from hieroglyphics, traffic signs, Japanese woodblock prints and classical portraits. Many in the entertainment world have been drawn to his hallmark style, including British pop band Blur, who commissioned him to design their “Blur: The Best Of (2000)” album cover. That cover, which featured portraits of the four band members, is now displayed in the National Portrait Gallery in London. In 2006, the band U2 commissioned Opie to create an LED projection for their Vertigo world tour. Today, he’s considered a trailblazer of the New British Sculpture movement,
Some of our other favorites, from Phillips Evening & Day Editions auction in London on Jan. 17-18, 2024 appear throughout this issue.