Catherine Opie

(American, born 1961)

Catherine Opie is an influential contemporary American photographer. Best known for her color portraits, Opie’s work explores the strata of our society by focusing on particular groups such as high school football players, S&M leather participants, and LGBT communities. Often politically charged, her photographs feature a central figure occupying a flattened space, highlighting her subject’s inner life through the removal of external detail. Throughout her practice, Opie investigates queer culture and personal history, creating work that is often autobiographical and informed by her experiences as a lesbian woman. In describing her iconic self-portrait, in which she appears bloodied and with the word ‘pervert’ carved into her chest, she explained, “I made the piece out of a reaction to all of the sudden gays and lesbians’ bringing on the ‘normal’ dialogue to us,” and wanted to “push the boundaries a little bit here about what you guys think normal is.” Still living and working on the west coast, Opie attended the San Francisco Art Institute and the California Institute of the Arts for her bachelor's and master's degrees, respectively. Born in Sandusky, OH in 1961, she has been the recipient of tremendous critical acclaim, including retrospectives at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2008 and the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston in 2011.

Catherine Opie News

Art Collectors

L.A. Collector Eileen Harris Norton on a Lifetime Spent Championing Artists of Color

by Lee Carter
L.A. Collector Eileen Harris Norton on a Lifetime Spent Championing Artists of Color
Gallery Network

Spotlight: The FotoFocus Biennial, the World's Broadest Array of Lens-Based Art, Returns for Sixth Edition

by Artnet Gallery Network
Spotlight: The FotoFocus Biennial, the World's Broadest Array of Lens-Based Art, Returns for Sixth Edition
Art World

Art Stars Cindy Sherman and Catherine Opie Have United With an Unlikely Mission: To Make Antique Cameo Jewelry Cool Again

by Sarah Cascone
Art Stars Cindy Sherman and Catherine Opie Have United With an Unlikely Mission: To Make Antique Cameo Jewelry Cool Again

Catherine Opie Artworks

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Catherine Opie (325 results)
Untitled #31 (i); Untitled #35 (ii) [2..., 1994

Catherine Opie

Untitled #31 (i); Untitled #35 (ii) [2..., 1994

Sale Date: October 31, 2023

Auction Closed

Surfers, 2003

Catherine Opie

Surfers, 2003

Sale Date: October 5, 2023

Auction Closed

Bravo, 2011

Catherine Opie

Bravo, 2011

Sale Date: October 6, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled, from New Museum Portfolio, 2000–2001

Catherine Opie

Untitled, from New Museum Portfolio, 2000–2001

Sale Date: September 7, 2023

Auction Closed

Crenshaw High School Marching Band, 2007, 2007

Catherine Opie

Crenshaw High School Marching Band, 2007, 2007

Sale Date: July 13, 2023

Auction Closed

Still Life #2, San Francisco, California, 1996

Catherine Opie

Still Life #2, San Francisco, California, 1996

Sale Date: June 8, 2023

Auction Closed

John and Scott, 1993

Catherine Opie

John and Scott, 1993

Sale Date: May 24, 2023

Auction Closed

Chloë', 1993

Catherine Opie

Chloë', 1993

Sale Date: May 2, 2023

Auction Closed

Sheats-Goldstein #4 (The Modernist), 2016

Catherine Opie

Sheats-Goldstein #4 (The Modernist), 2016

Sale Date: April 4, 2023

Auction Closed

Dyke Deck, 1995

Catherine Opie

Dyke Deck, 1995

Sale Date: March 15, 2023

Auction Closed

California Coast Ship and Whale, 2006

Catherine Opie

California Coast Ship and Whale, 2006

Sale Date: March 4, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled #6 (from the Freeway series), 1993

Catherine Opie

Untitled #6 (from the Freeway series), 1993

Sale Date: January 25, 2023

Auction Closed

California Coast Ship and Whale, 2006

Catherine Opie

California Coast Ship and Whale, 2006

Sale Date: December 3, 2022

Auction Closed

Untitled #19, 2011

Catherine Opie

Untitled #19, 2011

Sale Date: December 15, 2022

Auction Closed

Justin Vivian Bond, 1993

Catherine Opie

Justin Vivian Bond, 1993

Sale Date: December 6, 2022

Auction Closed

Untitled #19, 2011, 2011

Catherine Opie

Untitled #19, 2011, 2011

Sale Date: October 6, 2022

Auction Closed

Sula, 2004

Catherine Opie

Sula, 2004

Sale Date: July 14, 2022

Auction Closed

Untitled #6 (from the Freeway series), 1993

Catherine Opie

Untitled #6 (from the Freeway series), 1993

Sale Date: June 23, 2022

Auction Closed

Scott and John, 1993

Catherine Opie

Scott and John, 1993

Sale Date: May 18, 2022

Auction Closed

Surfer, 2003

Catherine Opie

Surfer, 2003

Sale Date: May 24, 2022

Auction Closed

Untitled (Side Street Projects' Mobile HQ), 2008

Catherine Opie

Untitled (Side Street Projects' Mobile HQ), 2008

Sale Date: May 11, 2022

Auction Closed

Surfers, 2019

Catherine Opie

Surfers, 2019

Sale Date: April 6, 2022

Auction Closed

Untitled #8 (from the Freeway Series), 1994

Catherine Opie

Untitled #8 (from the Freeway Series), 1994

Sale Date: February 22, 2022

Auction Closed

Untitled #27 (from the Freeway Series), 1994

Catherine Opie

Untitled #27 (from the Freeway Series), 1994

Sale Date: February 22, 2022

Auction Closed

English (US)

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