Julian Opie

Duarte Sequeira is excited to present a solo exhibition by Julian Opie.

Julian Opie's new exhibition at Duarte Sequeira Gallery presents a compelling

investigation into movement, identity, and representation through a major installa-

tion dedicated to the figure of the sprinter. Bringing together life-sized installations,

LED works, and portraiture, Opie stages a study of the body in motion as both a for-

mal device and a cultural symbol. The exhibition functions as a dynamic environment

where viewers are invited not only to witness but to navigate the interplay between

motion, image, and repetition.

Opie's visual language is grounded in reduction. His stylised figures, stripped

of detail yet meticulously observed, reconfigure the familiar into the symbolic. In this

exhibition, the sprinter is transformed into an elemental figure of contemporary life-an

icon of discipline, endurance, and progress. The installation unfolds as a choreography

of forms, where the act of running is abstracted into a sequence of gestures that oscil-

late between human specificity and generic typology.

The LED works provide a pulse through the exhibition space. Drawing upon the

aesthetics of public signage, these works repeat loops of animated figures in perpetual

motion. The effect is hypnotic, suggesting both the mechanical precision of the athlete

and the visual saturation of urban environments. Here, motion is not merely depicted

but enacted through technology. These works do not capture a singular moment but

extend it, creating an architecture of time where movement is endlessly deferred yet

continually present.

In counterpoint to this relentless flow, the sprinter portraits offer a moment of

stillness. Isolated from action, these frontal, tightly framed depictions assert the indi-

viduality of the athletes. Their expressions are composed, introspective, and self-con-

tained. This stillness is not at odds with the surrounding motion but integral to it. It

reminds us that the performance of speed is always underpinned by moments of

self-awareness and self-presentation. In this way, Opie subtly positions the sprinter as

both subject and construct-as athlete, as icon, and as data.

Throughout the installation, Opie's economy of means is matched by the com-

plexity of his inquiry. The exhibition is situated within broader discourses of spectator-

ship, digital mediation, and the abstraction of the human body. His work engages with

the lineage of classical friezes, kinetic art, and contemporary screen culture, all while

maintaining a rigorous formal clarity. What emerges is not a celebration of athleticism

in itself, but a meditation on the conditions through which bodies are made visible,

repeatable, and legible.