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Walking on water

An electronic Pop Art exhibition lights up the riverside
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By Tony Ozuna
For The Prague Post
May 16th, 2007 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
The art blends in seamlessly both indoors and out in this site-specific show.
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Julian Opie’s show “Walking on the Vltava” at Museum Kampa is a site-specific selection of recent works that reflect nature, beauty and cosmopolitan youth, set on a groovy catwalk of sorts. It is hard to think of a better site-specific gallery space in Prague than the museum’s lower-level room, with its tall, slim windows practically hanging over the river and the Charles Bridge as a backdrop.
Julian Opie: Walking on the Vltava

Museum Kampa
Ends June 24. U Sovových mlýnů 2, Prague 1–Kampa Island. Open daily 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

Overall, the noted London-based artist uses the space to its full potential for 11 of the 13 works in this show. The remaining two works, Bruce Walking and Suzanne Walking, are outside the gallery — displayed on LCD screens attached to a weir on the Vltava. Over two meters (6.6 feet) in height, these figures appear to be strutting down the middle of the river. Nighttime viewing is best, and the darker the better.
Most of the other work presents a cast of female characters, such as Bijou Relaxes 3; a thin, naked brown girl reclining across the wall. She is made of fine baked enamel on glass and stainless steel. Then there is Ruth Smoking 5; a woman wearing an open see-through blouse. She is a computer-animated character continuously showing on a large LCD screen, smoking and occasionally blinking her emotionless beady eyes.
There are three other girls, also in color and shown on an LCD screen: Hannah, Lottie and Esther Blinking, who are younger and almost identical except for their clothing. They are also blinking, but more rapidly than Ruth, probably at the rate all young and overly self-conscious girls tend to do.
Kirika, Art Student comes in triplicate: In one view she is seen in profile, in the second her face stares blankly at the viewer, and in the third we see the back of her head. These three heads, on large circular orange flourescent backdrops, are nicely done in the style of Japanese manga (comics) and work well without animation.
Finally, there is a dancer (also done as a set). Shahnoza Dancing in Sequined Mini, Left is just what the name says, while in another version she shakes her hips to the right. She is a party girl dressed in pink and black, with white dots that evoke glitter on her skirt. The same figure also appears on an LCD screen as Shahnoza Dancing in White Dress. In this one, she is doing a grind with her hips, which would undoubtedly fascinate hundreds if it were showing at night on an open square, and probably thousands if it were also accompanied by a good dance track.
With the exception of Kirika, Art Student 1-2-3, Opie’s figures are rendered minimally in terms of facial and bodily features, as their faces are merely circles with emptiness inside. They give and evoke very little, outside of a talent for shaking their hips.
The strongest section of the room is a portion of wall with just two images, both of Mother Nature. View of Lake Motosu and Mount Fuji From Route 300 is a continuous computer animation on a large LCD screen with birds in motion over sparkling water, reflections on the lake and windblown leaves. There is no attempt to hide the original source of inspiration: The title itself evokes the well-known woodblock print series “Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji,” a theme undertaken by the Japanese masters Hokusai (1760–1849) and Hiroshige (1797–1858).
The second nature image, a valley with snowy alpine peaks on one end and a rippling lake, looks realistic, especially with the Vltava clearly visible through the gallery windows on either side. The effect is even more pronounced when the occasional boat slowly passes by on the river outside.
Opie’s is a form of New Media Pop Art that practically equals pop entertainment, since there seems to be a general societal fascination with all things that move (including such banalities as blinking eyes and rippling water), provided that it’s done with the use of technology.
Many of the best-known younger contemporary artists in the West, including Opie, are hooked on creating art through state-of-the-art technology, though these tech-smart artists are rarely exhibited in Prague (or anywhere else in the Czech Republic for that matter). The agency that organized this show, w.art projects, plans to stage further exhibits in Prague of leading contemporary artists from around the world. Hopefully, it’ll continue to have access to the room on the river, which was not only christened, but also effectively transformed by Julian Opie.

Tony Ozuna can be reached at features@praguepost.com


Other articles in Night & Day (16/05/2007):

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