Catherine Opie: Difference between revisions

Opie first came to be known with ''Being and Having'' (1991) and ''Portraits'' (1993–1997), which portray queer communities in Los Angeles and San Francisco. ''Being and Having'' looks at the outward portrayal of masculinity and is a reference to 17th-century Old Master portraiture.<ref name="orma">{{cite journal|last1=Guralnik|first1=Orna|title=Being and Having an Identity: Catherine Opie|journal=Studies in Gender and Sexuality|date=2013|volume=14|issue=3|pages=239–244|doi=10.1080/15240657.2013.818872|s2cid=145668182}}</ref> It conveyed strong ideals and perceptions based among persons of the [[LGBT]] community, referencing gender, age, race and identity; all constructed surrounding identity. This body of work similarly plays with performative aspects and play. These works read as iconography, themselves.

 

 

Opie's earlier work relies more heavily on documentary photography as opposed to allegorical, yet still provides a stark relationship to her investigation and use of powerful iconography throughout the years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.saic.edu/media/saic/profiles/faculty/davidgetsy/Getsy-Opie-Portraiture-2015.pdf|title=Catherine Opie, Portraiture, and the Decoy of the Iconography|last=Getsy|first=David|date=February 2, 2017|website=School of the Art Institute in Chicago|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222054547/http://www.saic.edu/media/saic/profiles/faculty/davidgetsy/Getsy-Opie-Portraiture-2015.pdf|archive-date=February 22, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afterellen.com/blog/trishbendix/catherine-opie-gives-us-girlfriends|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120717013454/http://www.afterellen.com/blog/trishbendix/catherine-opie-gives-us-girlfriends|url-status=dead|title=Catherine Opie gives us "Girlfriends" - AfterEllen.com|date=July 17, 2012|archive-date=July 17, 2012|access-date=November 14, 2018}}</ref> Her works balance personal and political. Her assertive portraits bring [[queer]]s to a forefront that is normally silenced by societal norms. Her work also explores how the idea of family varies between straight and LGBTQ communities. Opie highlights that LGBTQ households often base their families in close friendships and community while straight families focus on their individual family.<ref>Heartney, Eleanor, Helaine Posner, Nancy Princenthal, and Sue Scott. ''The Reckoning: Women Artists of the New Millennium''. Munich: Prestel, 2013.</ref>

 

 

This Los Angeles-focused series sparked her ongoing project ''American Cities'' (1997–present) which is a collection of panoramic black-and-white photographs of quintessential American cities. This series is similar to an earlier work of hers, ''Domestic'' (1995–1998) which documented her 2-month RV road trip, portraying lesbian families engaging in everyday house-hold activities across the country.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Guralnik|first=Orna|year=2013|title=Being and Having an Identity: Catherine Opie|url=http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=9bef4ac7-080b-4cd0-8749-f402470b6de3%40sessionmgr4006&vid=13&hid=4104|journal=New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis|page=2|via=Routledge Taylor&Francis Group}}{{Dead link|date=November 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

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[[Category:American contemporary artists]]

[[Category:Landscape photographers]]

[[Category:Photographers from California]]

[[Category:American LGBT photographers]]

[[Category:Lesbian academics]]