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New commission Permanent Installation LED

Shaida Walking. 2015

Julian Opie (UK)

LUMIERE LONDON 2016, 2018

Shaida walks the streets of Carnaby rain or shine, day or night…

Recognised across the globe for his iconic style, Julian Opie created a new, permanent public work that premiered at Lumiere London 2016.

Shaida Walking. 2015 takes pride of place amongst the bustling streets of the vibrant area of Soho. The subject of Opie’s illuminated work is placed on Broadwick Street opposite Carnaby Street, the pedestrianised shopping zone.

Julian Opie lives and works in London. He has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally with major museum exhibitions including shows at Kunstverein in Cologne, Hayward Gallery and ICA in London, MAK in Vienna, Art Tower Mito in Japan, MOCAK in Krakow, Taidehalli in Helsinki as well as the Delhi Triennial, Venice Biennale and Documenta. He has also presented many public projects in cities internationally, including the Dentsu Building in Tokyo 2002, City Hall Park in New York 2004, Mori Building, Omotesando Hill in Japan 2006, River Vltava in Prague 2007, Phoenix Art Museum USA 2007, Dublin City Gallery in Ireland 2008, Seoul Square in South Korea 2009, Regent’s Place in London 2011, Calgary, Canada, The Lindo Wing, St Mary’s Hospital, London and more recently permanent installations at SMETS in Belgium and PKZ in Zurich. His work can be found in many public art collections, including Tate Modern, the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Portrait Gallery in London, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, ICA in Boston, and Takamatsu City Museum of Art.

julianopie.com

 

“I wanted to draw people just the way they look walking down my street, any street. I asked random people to spare me 20 minutes and be filmed walking on a treadmill. I filmed at 50 frames a second (twice the normal film speed) and set about drawing each frame in a pared down drawing style derived from signs and symbols, ancient and modern. I built a display cabinet using LED technology usually seen on billboards and information panels. I found a public spot and placed the object on a plinth like a bronze statue of a civic hero to stride endlessly as a living drawing and as part of the crowd.”

Julian Opie

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