Julian Opie
Year 4 A (Third Grade A), 2024
Paint on resin
400 x 465.7 cm (157 1\/2 x 183 3\/8 in)
\u00a9 Julian Opie, Courtesy of Lisson Gallery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nThese works mark a new development in that Opie hasn\u2019t previously included children in his images of walking crowds, and while the animations are schematic \u2013 types who might almost have sprung from an instruction manual \u2013 they are also made individual. No two figures are alike. The cyclical movement, too, varies within each animation. As Opie has noted: \u201cEach child walks at a slightly different speed, so the relationships between them change over time like four independent pendulums.\u201d <\/p>\n
In contrast to the monodirectional movement of the LED works, three paintings of children walking, made on gridded resin supports, show backward and forward positions. The image is hand painted and deeply engraved into the material, whose stone-like quality and monumental scale evokes imposing decorative friezes on the walls of ancient temples. The rhythm of the animations devolves into something more syncopated, suggestive of two-way motion. Each painting and animation depicts a particular year group: the artist began by making videos of classes in a school. Seen as a totality, the endlessly strolling children amass into a portrait of growing up.<\/p>\n