BERLIN.- KÖNIG GALERIE presents the first exhibition by Julian Opie at St. Agnes—a monumental installation that transforms the former church into a dynamic cityscape of towering sculptures, animated LED panels, and striking portraits. This marks the first time an artist is taking over all spaces at St. Agnes, including the courtyard and sculpture garden, with several works designed especially for the unique architecture of the building, forging a powerful dialogue between art and space.


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Text by Julian Opie

"For my first show at KÖNIG GALERIE, in the amazing St. Agnes building, I have consciously echoed the layout of a classic church where you might expect to find central columns, an impressive altarpiece and statues lining the side aisles. At the same time I have tried to make use of the massive ceiling height and sense of landscape that the space gives.


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Five steel sculptures, at over 8 meters tall, depict tower buildings that populate the City of London close to where I work. Towers are condensed architecture, often existing only for their own sake. Vertical like a human body, they allow me to construct a built environment in a reduced fashion, as if you’ve wandered into a drawing of a town. Through this town, children are strolling—animated on traffic sign-like LED panels. I filmed a group of schoolchildren aged between 4 and 8, wanting to capture their characteristic movement and playful expressive motion. High above them is a billboard-sized painting in coloured plastic of London pedestrians weaving across the pavement in a composition borrowed from Greek vases.

First and foremost, this is a collection of recent works that spreads out to other parts of the gallery and its outside spaces, but in each case, I have tried to make use of the qualities of the building itself, allowing the architecture to help and clarify the artworks. Out on the street, large-scale aluminium statues on concrete plinths depict pedestrians striding along the pavement in a way that echoes the movement of passing crowds, while also suggesting the scaled-up statues of soldiers or political leaders common in cities. Unlike those historic sculptures, the colours are bright and shiny, so their look is also of a corporate 3D logo outside a factory headquarters.

Lounging on the garden lawn are smaller figures drawn in stainless steel tubing that resemble handrails or bike racks; these were inspired by a summer of picnics during the Covid period. A giant head sculpture depicting the face of an individual populates the front courtyard. It is modelled on the brutal concrete central barriers found on motorways, heavy enough to stop tanks, and is drawn in high relief like Egyptian carved stone walls.

Finally, in the smaller chapel space are more intimately scaled portraits in wood and stone, allowing the natural qualities of the material to affect the mood and presence of the people depicted. They are drawn in a kind of universal language that I have developed over many years that echoes face recognition technology and diagrams—as if each person were their own logo or emoji."

Julian Opie (b. 1958 in London, UK) lives and works in London, where he studied at Goldsmiths College under Michael Craig-Martin, graduating in 1983. Opie’s multidisciplinary practice spans painting, sculpture, animation, and digital media, focusing on themes of identity, movement, and the abstraction of the human form.

For over three decades, Opie has explored the intersection of the figurative and the abstract, becoming known for his iconic graphic portraits and stylized depictions of the human body, as well as buildings, animals and landscapes, both man-made and natural. His works distill complex human actions and figures into bold, simplified shapes, capturing movement and expression in a way that balances clarity with a deep narrative quality. His art often explores how figures can be reduced to their essential characteristics, creating imagery that is both accessible and enigmatic.

Opie’s practice frequently engages with public space, using materials and aesthetics associated with signage, advertising, and graphic design. This approach challenges conventional boundaries between fine art and the everyday, inviting viewers to reconsider the relationship between art, functionality, and the urban environment. By blurring these distinctions, Opie’s work integrates into the fabric of public and commercial life, making it both familiar and thought-provoking.

Opie has presented numerous solo exhibitions at major institutions worldwide. His recent solo shows include La Llotja, Palma, (2024); La Nau Cultural Centre, Valencia (2021); Museu Coleção Berardo, Lisbon (2020); F1963, Busan (2018); National Galley Victoria, Melbourne (2018); and Fosun Foundation, Shanghai (2017), among others.

His works are part of significant public collections, including Tate, the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; the Israel Museum, Jerusalem; and the Takamatsu City Museum of Art, Japan, among others.