Julian Opie's name is evocative of starkly contoured figures and iconic portraiture, oft mimicked in the 1990s and Noughties. But the Wallpaper* Design Awards judge's latest opus is a subtle, pastoral departure from his usual MO.
This time he's taken inspiration not from the London streets or the cultural figures who have imbued his art with historic significance, but from a stroll through a bleak winter landscape in France. Where exactly in France we're unsure, but Opie leads us through his circuitous loop like an electronic street viewer: pivoting here and there to focus on the clear path ahead.
Opie captures each stage on the walk in a single digital print, coloured in a palette resembling army camouflage. The prints are laminated to a glass façade and presented in a grid on four walls of the Alan Cristea Gallery, in London's Mayfair. With 75 images in all, the viewer feels cocooned in that French landscape. The nose grows cold just contemplating the scene.
This 'Winter' series of all-new editions is a spin-off of Opie's recent computer-animated film of the same name, shown last summer at the Lisson Gallery. That film, a similar series of austere winter landscapes, has also made it into the current show and is on display in Cristea's adjacent gallery - next to a piece by Michael Craig-Martin, a mentor and former instructor of Opie's at Goldsmith's College.
The film's score by Paul Englishby, with vocals by Opie's wife Aniela, is piped into both galleries for the length of the show.
'Winter 32.' by Julian Opie, 2012, from a series of 75 digital prints laminated to glass and mounted to Plexiglas.
The 'Winter' series of all-new editions is a spin-off of Opie's recent computer-animated film of the same name, on show in Alan Cristea's adjacent gallery on Cork Street. © Julian Opie. Courtesy of the artist and Alan Cristea Gallery, London
Opie captures each stage on the walk in a single digital print, coloured in a palette resembling army camouflage. The prints are presented in a grid on four walls of the Alan Cristea Gallery.
'Winter 39.' by Julian Opie, 2012.
'Winter 68.' by Julian Opie, 2012.
ADDRESS
Alan Cristea Gallery
34 Cork Street
London
-
London Design Festival 2025: live updates from the Wallpaper* teamFrom 11-21 September, London is celebrating design in all its forms. Here's the latest news, launches and other goings-on from London Design Festival 2025, as seen by Wallpaper* editors
-
Inside Ardbeg House, the whimsical Islay hotel from the Scotch distillery‘Luxury with a laugh’ is how Russell Sage describes his designs for the new hotel, where each room draws on island and whisky lore
-
Luxury cruise line Explora Journeys will set sail in Asia for the first time28 voyages across Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore will mark the luxury travel brand’s debut in the region
-
Ralph Steadman has worked with everyone from Hunter S. Thompson to Travis Scott and Quavo – now, the Gonzo illustrator is celebrated in LondonA new exhibition provides a rare opportunity to experience the inimitable work and creativity of Gonzo illustrator Ralph Steadman up close. Just don’t call it a ‘style’.
-
Five of the biggest art exhibitions to see in London in 2026From Marilyn Monroe, to David Hockney and Tracey Emin – get these art exhibitions in your diary now
-
From art to fashion, and back again: Jonathan Schofield’s figurative work is back in styleAfter graduating from London’s Royal College of Art, Jonathan Schofield began a career as a creative director at Stella McCartney. Now, he has returned to his first love, painting
-
Artists imbue the domestic with an unsettling unfamiliarity at Hauser & WirthThree artists – Koak, Ding Shilun and Cece Philips – bring an uncanny subversion to the domestic environment in Hauser & Wirth’s London exhibition
-
Get the picture? A new exhibition explores the beautiful simplicity of Japanese pictogramsThe simple, minimalist forms of a pictogram are uniquely Japanese, as new exhibition 'Pictograms: Iconic Japanese Designs' illustrates
-
From Snapchat dysmorphia to looksmaxing, have digital beauty standards made us lose sight of what's real, asks a new exhibitionAI, social media and the ease with which we can tweak our face mean we're heading towards a dystopian beauty future, argues 'Virtual Beauty' at Somerset House
-
Thirty-five years after its creation, Lynn Hershman Leeson’s seminal video is as poignant as everLynn Hershman Leeson’s 'Desire Inc', at 243 Luz in Margate, blurs the boundaries between art and reality
-
Meet the New York-based artists destabilising the boundaries of societyA new show in London presents seven young New York-based artists who are pushing against the borders between refined aesthetics and primal materiality
