Catherine Opie

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'Dusty' photograph by Catherine Opie, 2007

Catherine Opie (born 1961 in Sandusky, Ohio[1]) is an American artist specializing in issues within documentary photography. Opie is currently a professor of Photography at University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).[2] She lives and works in West Adams, Los Angeles.[3]

Early life and education

Opie spent her early childhood in Ohio, but her family moved near San Diego when she was 13 years old.[4] She studied childhood education for a year as an undergraduate, but soon went to the San Francisco Art Institute to earn her bachelor of fine arts degree.[5] She obtained a master's degree from California Institute of the Arts School of Art in 1988. She and her companion, painter Julie Burleigh, built several studios in the backyard of their house in South Central Los Angeles.[6]

Work

Opie's work is characterized by a combination of formal concerns, a variety of printing technologies, references to art history, and social/political commentary. An example of formal concerns include addressing issues of the horizon line in the "ice house" and "surfer" series. She has printed photographs using chromochrome, iris prints, Polaroids, and silver photogravure. Examples of art history references include the use of bright color backgrounds in portraits which reference the work of Hans Holbein[7] and the full body frontal portraits that reference August Sander. A common social/political theme in her work is the concept of community. Opie has investigated aspects of community, making portraits of many groups including LGBT community; surfers; and most recently high school football players. Opie is interested in how identities are shaped by our surrounding architecture. Her work is informed by her identity as an out lesbian.[8] Her works balance personal and political. Her assertive portraits bring queers to a forefront that is normally silenced by societal norms.

Bodies of Work

Catherine Opie has multiple bodies of work:

  • Master Plan (1986–88)
  • Being and Having (1991)
  • LA Houses (1995) Chromogenic Prints 40' x 50"
  • LA Freeways (1994–95) Platinum Prints 2 1/4' by 6 2/4" which relate to images in a rear view window and early photographs of Egyptian ruins.
  • Mini-malls (1997) Iris Print 16" x 41"
  • Portraits (1993) Chromogenic Prints in various sizes. These portraits of "queer" people references August Sander and Hans Holbein.
  • Domestic series (1998) Chromogenic Prints in various sizes. Portraits of Lesbian relationships throughout the United States.
  • Ice Houses (outgrowth of residency at Walker Art Museum)
  • Surfers (2004)
  • High school football players (2008) (Looks at American identity through iconic images and a redefinition of landscape in a photographic practice.)
  • Girlfriends

American cities

Throughout her career, Opie has taken photos of American cities including:

  • St. Louis
  • Minneapolis
  • Chicago
  • New York

Self-portraits

Throughout her career, Opie has taken a handful of self-portraits.

In Self Portrait/Cutting (1993), Opie has a house and two stick figures in dresses freshly cut into her back.

In Self Portrait/Pervert (1994), Opie wears a leather mask, has needles inserted in both arms, and the word "Pervert" is freshly cut into her chest. “I made the piece out of a reaction to all of the sudden gays and lesbians’ bringing on the ‘normal’ dialogue to us,” Ms. Opie said, adding that those involved in sadomasochism were being marginalized by other homosexuals. Her response to the mainstream was, “Let’s push the boundaries a little bit here about what you guys think normal is.” [9]

In Self Portrait/Nursing (2004), Opie breast feeds her infant son with the word "Pervert" still visible as a scar.[10]

Exhibitions

Her works are displayed in US and international museums. She has been featured in numerous group shows. Significant solo shows include:

  • Catherine Opie at Photographer's Gallery London and Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
  • "Catherine Opie: American Photographer" A mid-career survey at the Guggenheim Museum in New York from September 26, 2008 till January 7, 2009 curated by Jennifer Blessing. It included an encyclopedic exhibition catalogue of all of Opie's almost 200 works since 1988, loosely divided into two sections: portraits and landscapes.

She shows regularly with Regen Projects, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York.

Awards

Opie has won awards including:

  • Citibank Private Bank Emerging Artist Award (1997)
  • Washington University Freund Fellowship (1999),
  • CalArts Alpert Award in the Arts (2003),
  • Larry Aldrich Award (2004),
  • San Francisco Art Institute President's Award for Excellence (2006),
  • United States Artist Fellowship (2006), and
  • Women's Caucus for Art: President's Award for Lifetime Achievement (2009).[11]

Publications

Opie's work has been included in many publications. The list below is publications that feature her work:[12]

  • Freeways published by Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles,[citation needed]
  • Catherine Opie, essays by Kate Bush, Joshua Decter & Russell Ferguson, published by the Photographer's Gallery, London
  • Catherine Opie: In between here and there, essay by Rochelle Steiner, published by the Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO, ills.
  • Catherine Opie published by Photographer's Gallery London, 2000
  • Catherine Opie: Skyways and Ice Houses, published by the Walker Art Center 2002
  • 1999 / In and Around Home, published by The Aldrich Contemporary Museum of Art, Ridgefield, CT, and the Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA, 2006
  • Chicago (American Cities), curated by Elizabeth T.A. Smith, published by Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, 2006
  • Catherine Opie: An American Photographer, published by Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, 2008
  • "Catherine Opie" This is Not to be Looked At, Morse, Rebecca, published by Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA, 2008,
  • Catherine Opie: Empty and Full, Molesworth, Helen, ed., published by Hatje Cantz, Stuttgart, 2011.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.regenprojects.com/artists/catherine-opie/bio/
  2. ↑ "Catherine Opie - Professor, Photography". UCLA Official website. Retrieved 30 November 2010. 
  3. ↑ Steve Appleford (January 27, 2013), Catherine Opie's documentary photography is on display Los Angeles Times.
  4. ↑ Hilarie M. Sheets (January 27, 2013), Home Views, Bound by Ice or Leather New York Times.
  5. ↑ Hilarie M. Sheets (January 27, 2013), Home Views, Bound by Ice or Leather New York Times.
  6. ↑ Hilarie M. Sheets (January 27, 2013), Home Views, Bound by Ice or Leather New York Times.
  7. ↑ Hilarie M. Sheets (January 27, 2013), Home Views, Bound by Ice or Leather New York Times.
  8. ↑ http://archive.is/20120717013454/http://www.afterellen.com/blog/trishbendix/catherine-opie-gives-us-girlfriends
  9. ↑ Sheets, Hilarie M. (Sep 21, 2008). "Home Views, Bound by Ice or Leather". The New York Times. Retrieved Nov 27, 2012. 
  10. ↑ Steve Appleford (January 27, 2013), Catherine Opie's documentary photography is on display Los Angeles Times.
  11. ↑ Regen Projects, Catherine Opie. "Biography". Regen Projects. Retrieved 2012-11-26. 
  12. ↑ Regen Projects, Catherine Opie. "Biography". Regen Projects. Retrieved 2012-11-26. 

External links

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