Julian Opie
SIDEWALK 2, 2023
Silk Screen prints each on two sheets of acrylic, presented in brushed aluminium frames specified by the artist
40 1/4 x 64 1/4 x 3 in
102.2 x 163.2 x 7.6 cm
29/40
Available at VFA
The work of Julian Opie (b.1958) is currently on display at the Architectural Biennial at the Palazzo Pisani in Venice, Italy. His presentation is part of a group exhibit titled Venice Transformed, Connecting People Through Art and Architecture.
Opie’s contribution to the exhibit is a virtual reality installation. Visitors can sit on a bench, put on a headset and travel through Venice without taking a step. Opie has created a path that takes the viewer on a three-minute trip through the alleyways and canals of Venice, through courtyards, across a virtual bridge, and into a palace with artworks displayed along the way.
Venice Transformed, Connecting People Through Art and Architecture will be on view through November 23, 2025.
Opie lives and works in London. This installation, like many of his work, combines simplicity of design with the exploration of movement. Though he’s known for his portrait and figurative works, Opie also creates landscapes in his unique, pared-down style.
His paintings and sculptures are part of permanent collections around the world.
Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011) was one of the most influential artists of the mid-20th century. “Whatever the medium,” she said, “there is the difficult, challenge, fascination and often productive clumsiness of learning a new method; the wonderful problems and puzzles of translating new materials.” Her willingness to try a variety of materials and techniques made her one of the most interesting artists of the time.
The Guggenheim Bilbao is currently showing paintings, prints and sculptures by Frankenthaler and by the artist friends who inspired, and were inspired by, her.
Painting Without Rules was curated by Douglas Dreishpoon, who admired Frankenthaler’s experimental approach to her work:
Frankenthaler invented the soak-stain technique, pouring turpentined-thinned oil paint onto canvas to produce fields of color. She did the same with acrylic paint, a fairly new medium in the 1950s and ‘60s. Even more impressive was Frankenthler’s ability to create bold fields of color with other techniques like screenprints and woodcuts.
Painting Without Rules will be on view at the Guggenheim Bilbao through September 28, 2025.
Sol LeWitt (1928- 2007) played a leading role in the Conceptual Art movement in 1960s. He carefully planned his works the way an architect would prepare blueprints for a structure, using basic lines and shapes, often leaving the actual construction of the work to one or more assistants.
LeWitt’s works are currently on view at the Craig Starr Gallery in New York. They are being shown alongside the works of Phong H. Bui, the Publisher and Artistic Director of the monthly journal the Brooklyn Rail.
Phong H. Bui & Sol LeWitt will be on view through October 4, 2025.
Please contact us if you would like more information about the work of Julian Opie, Helen Frankenthaler and Sol LeWitt, available at VFA.
References:
Cynthia Payne. Helen Frankenthaler: Painting Without Rules. The Brooklyn Rail/ArtSeen. September 2025.
Sol LeWitt. “Serial Project No.1. Museum of Modern Art, 1978.
