Collection+ Judith Alexandrovics / Julian Opie

COLLECTION+ JUDITH ALEXANDROVICS & JULIAN OPIE

CURATED BY ANGIE TAYLOR

JA JO MORNINGTON PENINSULA REGIONAL GALLERY

Collection+ is an MPRG series of exhibitions that explore the connections between an international artist and an artist represented in MPRG’s collection. The third iteration of Collection+ pairs the work of internationally renowned British artist Julian Opie with the work of late Melbourne artist

Judith Alexandrovics.

Julian Opie is a contemporary London based artist whose instantly recognisable work often depicts figures and landscapes reduced to essential outlines and flat colour fields. Whilst his linear figures possess uniformity, their unique style and movement is also captured within the simplification process.

Judith Alexandrovics was a Melbourne based artist whose work is represented in the MPRG collection and whose oeuvre spans from the early 1970s until 2019, the year prior to her passing.

The exhibition showcases her detailed aquatint etchings, as well as a selection of her related larger paintings. Many of the etchings on display have been posthumously reprinted from the original plates with the permission of Judith’s family, by Trent Walter at Negative Press. By drawing together this unlikely combination, common threads appear throughout the work. Both artists observe and thoughtfully document people in the landscape, particularly groups of people in the urban environment, the main thematic focus for this exhibition.

ANGIE TAYLOR

INTRODUCTION

Observations of people in an urban environment are a prominent theme in the work of both Judith Alexandrovics and Julian Opie.

People are depicted either individually or in a crowd, in snapshots of familiar, unremarkable moments. They are walking through the city, making their way to work, waiting for the tram or train, walking or waiting with an anonymous crowd. When describing the people depicted in his work, Opie has said: ‘Each person wrapped in their own purpose, dressed in their own way, combining with strangers to create a constantly changing, random dance.’1

In an interview with Susan McCulloch, Alexandrovics described the figures in her prints and paintings as: ‘…either travelling, waiting or behind barriers. I want to give them permanence for to me they affirm life even though they often have to struggle against adversity.’2

Alexandrovics and Opie have a different perspective when addressing their subject matter. Alexandrovics’ work illustrates the daily toil of the city worker and the herd-like movement of crowds. At times her work explores protest and activism alluding to what can emerge from a collective of people.

Opie’s dynamic work illustrates the movement and mood of people out and about. We usually aren’t given many clues about what they are doing, but they have a sense of purpose. We get a snapshot of their individual style, the way they move and how they fit together in the group.

Both artists explore the notion of the individual within a crowd, illustrated in Alexandrovics’ scenes of protest and Opie’s walkers. Our behaviour and sense of self can be influenced when we become part of a crowd of people. Social identity theorists posit that we ‘experience a shift from our individual selves to a collective self, and our behaviour in response to this shift is influenced by the social norms shared by our fellow group members.’3 This tension between individual and collective is visible in both artists’ works, representing a multitude speckled with trailing individuals and differentiated characters.

1. Julian Opie, ‘Walking’, NGV catalogue 2018, p. 219.

2. McCulloch, Susan, Nostalgic look at Melbourne, The Age, Arts and Entertainment, 31 October 1990 – from an interview with the artist. pg. 14.

3. McElroy, Jennifer, Crowd Psychology: Why do we behave differently in a crowd, 23 June 2015. Accessed from The Green Room website 2022.

Installation view Judith Alexandrovics (left and right) Good Government (Burke Street) 1974, Discord 1974 Courtesy of the artist’s estate; Julian Opie (centre) Cityscape? 1998-99 National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Purchased with assistance from the Margaret Stones Fund for International Prints and Drawings, 2004

Judith Alexandrovics People are Individuals 1975 aquatint on cardboard, open edition Gift of the artist, 1975

COLLECTION+ JUDITH ALEXANDROVICS & JULIAN OPIE

Opie’s work observes everyday people moving through space, tracing passers-by and the myriad possibilities they represent. Black outlines are interspersed with notable features and embellishments of the figures; shopping bags, tattoos, earphones and hoodies. These characters are like hieroglyphs on the horizontal image plane. The symbols of the crowd and individual become easily recognisable. By reducing line and form, Opie captures a contemporary frieze of urban society, akin to Alexandrovics’ paintings and prints from the 1970s.

City Walkers is a large-scale sculptural work developed for Opie’s solo exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria, 2018, a smaller installation of the work features in this exhibition. By employing a local Melbourne photographer, Opie was able to develop his walkers from hundreds of people documented on the street.

‘Some sixty drawings later I have a pallet of characters and have been using them in a range of paintings and statues...By making groups of six walkers I get a street crowd and a list and a kind of fashion parade.’4

Opie’s landscapes are reduced to their essential, representational colours. Opie has described his aim as ‘realism but not in the sense of photographic detail, more the realism of a glance or a memory, or the feeling of being immersed all day in a view.’5

His landscapes, particularly those depicting movement, evoke early first-person videogames or navigational system graphics.

Installation view (l-r)

Julian Opie

Imagine you are driving., Landscape?, Cars?

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Purchased with assistance from the Margaret Stones Fund for International Prints and Drawings, 2004

5. Ibid.

4. Julian Opie, ‘Landscape’, NGV catalogue 2018 p. 170.

Installation view at MPRG

Julian Opie City Walkers, 2018 (detail)

anodised aluminium National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Purchased with funds donated by Michael and Emily Tong, and NGV Foundation, 2020

In the 1970s Judith Alexandrovics completed several successful series of etchings. These etchings informed many of her larger paintings. The artworks selected in this exhibition are from her series ‘Commuters’, ‘Follies of Man’ and ‘Good Government’. These works focused on people in the urban environment as well as depictions of collective activism and protest.

Judith printed her own etchings at her family home in Melbourne. Her daughter Belinda fondly recalls their laundry with its dual purpose as a print studio. When selecting the works for the exhibition, we found the remaining etchings were printed on a variety of paper stock, with some in fair condition, embodying their DIY origins. In addition to the prints, the family estate had kept many of the original zinc etching plates in working condition.

By posthumously reprinting Alexandrovics’ work, we have aimed to represent a close to complete series of her etchings in high quality paper and ink. With permission from the family estate, we commissioned Trent Walter from Negative Press to restrike her etchings. Trent spent time studying the original prints to inform his printing of the plates.

Describing the process, Trent says ‘The plates were slowly polished by hand wiping and printing, yielding clearer impressions with every inking. It has been a wonderful way to get to know Judith’s work.’

During the process Trent tried to stay as true to Judith’s printing style as possible, as well as making aesthetic judgements when needed to bring these historic prints to life.

Left:

Judith Alexandrovics a selection of the artist’s original etching plates from the 1970s Courtesy of the artist’s estate

Below: Judith Alexandrovics

A Person 1975 aquatint on heavy wove paper, open edition Gift of the artist, 1975

Installation view

COLLECTION+ JUDITH ALEXANDROVICS & JULIAN OPIE

Julian Opie

Walking in the rain, Seoul, 2015 colour screenprint ed. 11/50

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Purchased with funds donated by Ruth Houghton with the assistance of NGV Foundation Patrons and the Yvonne Pettengell Bequest, 2015

LIST OF WORKS

Judith ALEXANDROVICS

b. Melbourne, Australia 1938

d. Melbourne, Australia 2020

Commuters 1990

acrylic on canvas

Collection of the artist’s estate

Discord 1974

acrylic on canvas

Collection of the artist’s estate

Balance 1974

acrylic on canvas

Collection of the artist’s estate

Cliff Hangers 1974

acrylic on canvas

Collection of the artist’s estate

People are Individuals 1975

aquatint on cardboard, open edition

Gift of the artist, 1975

People are Individuals 1975 aquatint on BFK Rives paper (open edition); reprinted 2022, 1/4

Collection of the artist’s estate

A Person 1975