Neue Realisten & Pop Art

From 19th of July, Gallery 2CforART will be presenting a group exhibition in Salzburg focusing on works by Julian Opie. Also featured are limited editions by Jim Dine, one of the last living principal representatives of Pop Art, and works by Keith Haring, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol. The vernissage will take place on Wednesday 19th of July from 18:00.

Julian Opie is undoubtedly one of the most famous contemporary British artists. The starting point for Julian Opie’s works are photographs of the depicted persons, which he then digitally manipulates. Opie reduces facial expressions and bodies with black contour lines to the essentials, without losing the characteristic peculiarity of the represented person. These appear to be even more pronounced by the striking simplification, as in the cover design of the Best-of-Blur album.

Julian Opie: "In my portraits it is important to me that an artwork is alive, something living, real. Masterpieces in a museum sometimes look terrifyingly alive. And that is the power when you paint someone: that this portrait can come to life. When I do something, it should speak for itself. You should not need a text or title to understand what it’s all about: it would be a failure for me as if something was missing! "

Keith Haring’s work has seen a renaissance in recent years with the rise of street art. Haring was the first artist to present his work in the New York clubs, on the streets, and on empty placards on the New York subway. On the other hand, Haring’s work was strongly influenced by graffiti. His style is characterized by simplicity, clarity and speed. With great energy and assertiveness, Haring was able to attract attention, especially through his allegorical figures. In 1988 Haring’s “bright world” began to darken due to his AIDS illness. Being affected by the illness himself, Haring hurled tirelessly and obsessively into his artistic work before he died in 1990 at the age of only 31 years.

Works by Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, the most famous representatives of Pop Art, are also part oft he exhibition. Lichtenstein’s Crak! from the year 1964 was his only second limited edition print he realized, many more should follow. Crak! remains an example for his work: in his own and unmistakable visual language, he adopts the grid points, black outlines, powerful colors, immaculate faces and the speech bubble with the comic scenes.

Andy Warhol is the epitome and the icon of pop art, this year marks the 30th anniversary of his death. It can be argued that Andy Warhol has initiated a revolution in art history. Through the use of screen printing he duplicated his motifs, varied them in different color combinations and created reproducible and affordable art for everyone. Part of the exhibition are some of his world-famous icons of the 20th century: Flowers and Campbell’s Soups.

Jim Dine has been artistically active for more than 60 years. In 1959, he moved to New York, where he became a principal representative of Pop Art. He is now one of its few living representatives. Jim Dine is also poet. This year he released his new series “Poet Singing”, 2 works of which were produced in Apleton in Burgenland.