‘What I would really like to do is make a painting and then walk into it’ Julian Opie

Belonging to a series of five paintings, Imagine that you are driving.4. presents an empty expanse of road disappearing into the distance. Based on photographs taken during an inspiring trip Julian Opie took across Europe in 1993, the work is an exquisite digital alteration of a rural landscape pushing the boundaries of traditional artistic practice.

A cartoonish image reminiscing of the symbolic landscape of computer driving games and children books, Opie encourages the viewers to embark on an endless and hypnotic journey into a stylised representation of the world, emptied of human presence.

Graduated from Goldsmiths in 1982 and burst onto a pre-Young British Artists art scene in London, the artist was one of the most influential figures for the now well-known group of artists. Though only few years ahead of the YBAs, Julian Opie instilled confidence in the youngest artists to become part of the artistic fabric and engage actively with the art community.