Julian Opie clearly considers himself a portraitist, which is interesting, in that realism is not a big concern of his and the people he uses as models are often unidentifiable from the finished works. He uses various media but seems generally to create the image using computer software then convert it to his chosen physical medium afterward - these media are varied: vinyl, LEDS, computer monitors, painted sculptures, animations, to name several but not all.

The animations are particularly interesting to me. Imagine you see a painting of a woman hanging on a wall, looking unexpectedly bright but otherwise not very remarkable, then - did she just BLINK?! - YES! It's not a painting at all - it's a computer animation and the brightness comes from the fact that it's a monitor emitting light rather than just reflecting it like a painting.

So that's one half of the book - Opie's own work. The other half is a selection from his collection of other people's work. Portraiture is the common theme here, with very few exceptions, and the range of the collection is striking, with sculptures from ancient Greek, Roman and Egyptian artists
right through to 18th century paintings of the kind rich families had done as status symbols and vanity projects..

The book really opened my eyes to the fact that realist portraiture is largely not for me; give me a Rembrandt of someone with a characterful face, yes, but a Gainsborough of some dynastically minded minor noble or rich merchant and - well, the trees in the background will be much more interesting. I noticed it in the book comparing african and European art, too. The African art had no interest in realism at all, where-as the European seemed to pize it as the most valuable aspect of the work in most cases. And I much prefered the African work, almost invariably.

In this exhibition, the least realist work was also my favourite, whether it be an outline human figure made from LEDs, like a programmable traffic sign, or an ancient Egyptian funerary sculpture intended to represent a servant in the afterlife. I am wondering whether this preference has an Aspie connection or not? I need to look into it a bit to find out.

Anyway, the physical design of the book is an annoying and unnecessary distraction (start at either end; meet in the middle), as is the consequent lack of page numbers, but still, it's a good reminder of the exhibition and I like Opie's style in his own work. ( )