CATHERINE OPIE AT MASP – THE GENDER OF PORTRAITURE
Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (MASP) features the exhibition Catherine Opie: Genre/Gender/Portraiture, with works by one of the leading names in contemporary international photography
Catherine Opie (Sandusky, Ohio, USA, 1961) was one of the forerunners in the discussion of gender between the late 1980s and early 1990s. Her work dialogues with the tradition of portraiture – one of the most traditional genres in Western painting – so as to give legitimacy to new bodies, subjectivities and experiences that emerge in contemporary society. In her photographs, Opie portrays various expressions and subjectivities of individuals and collectives who identify with multiple genders and sexual orientations, especially queer people.
Curated by Adriano Pedrosa, artistic director at MASP, and Guilherme Giufrida, assistant curator at MASP, the show is the artist's first in Brazil and features 63 photographs from her most emblematic series, developed over more than three decades. Opie's portraits appear alongside 21 important paintings from MASP's collection, including those by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Hans Holbein, Anthony van Dyck and Van Gogh. The works are presented together with the aim of emphasizing the dialogues, tensions and reformulations that Opie's work proposes, as well as highlighting her predilection for figurative art, a hallmark of the museum's collection.
The artist explores the classic genre of portraiture by adopting some of its characteristics – a neutral background, hand gestures, expressions and framing – and by adding new elements, such as gender diversity, sexual practices, diverse bodies and homosexual family relationships. "It is essential that all human beings be legitimized, that is necessary for the inclusion of all people, for humanity. By utilizing the traditional aesthetic of the portrait, according to my vision of portraiture, I try to keep the viewer involved as they observe the work. It's also a way of redefining the queer body within a known formality, and not just as a documentary photograph," says Catherine Opie.
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Catherine Opie (Sandusky, Ohio, EUA, 1961)
Flipper, Tanya, Chloe & Harriet, San Francisco, California, da série [from the series] Domestic [Doméstico], 1995
C-print sobre papel [on paper], 102 × 140 cm
Cortesia da artista e [Courtesy of the artist and] Regen Projects, Los Angeles; Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong, London, and Seoul; and Thomas Dane Gallery, London and Naples Cortesia da artista e Regen Projects, Los Angeles; Lehmann Maupin, Nova York, Hong Kong, Londres e Seul; Thomas Dane Gallery, Londres e Nápoles
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Catherine Opie, Idexa, 1993 C-print sobre papel [on paper], 51 × 40,5 cm
Cortesia da artista e [Courtesy of the artist and] Regen Projects, Los Angeles; Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong, London, and Seoul; and Thomas Dane Gallery, London and Naples Cortesia da artista e Regen Projects, Los Angeles; Lehmann Maupin, Nova York, Hong Kong, Londres e Seul; Thomas Dane Gallery, Londres e Nápoles
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Catherine Opie, J. da série Being and Having, 1991 Impressão pigmentada sobre papel com moldura de madeira e placa de metal [Pigment print on paper with wood frame and metal nameplate], 44 × 54 cm (emoldurado)
Cortesia da artista e [Courtesy of the artist and] Regen Projects, Los Angeles; Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong, London, and Seoul; and Thomas Dane Gallery, London and Naples Cortesia da artista e Regen Projects, Los Angeles; Lehmann Maupin, Nova York, Hong Kong, Londres e Seul; Thomas Dane Gallery, Londres e Nápoles
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Catherine Opie, JD, da série [from the series] Girlfriends [Amigas], 2008
Impressão pigmentada sobre papel [Pigment print on paper], 81 × 61 cm
Cortesia da artista e [Courtesy of the artist and] Regen Projects, Los Angeles; Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong, London, and Seoul; and Thomas Dane Gallery, London and Naples Cortesia da artista e Regen Projects, Los Angeles; Lehmann Maupin, Nova York, Hong Kong, Londres e Seul; Thomas Dane Gallery, Londres e Nápoles
Catherine Opie was born in Sandusky, Ohio, in 1961. She currently lives and works in Los Angeles, where she was also a professor in the Arts Department at the University of California (UCLA). Since the late 1980s, she has had several solo exhibitions at internationally renowned institutions such as the Guggenheim Museum (New York), Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Los Angeles), Regen Projects (Los Angeles), Thomas Dane Gallery (London) and the Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston and Canada). Her work is included in the collections of international institutions such as the Guggenheim Museum, Institute of Contemporary Art, J. Paul Getty Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Museum of Fine Arts, National Portrait Gallery, Tate and Whitney Museum.
Catherine Opie: the gender of portraiture is part of MASP's annual program dedicated to Histories of LGBTQIA+ Diversity. This year's program also includes exhibitions by Gran Fury, Francis Bacon, Mário de Andrade, MASP Renner, Lia D Castro, Leonilson, Serigrafistas Queer and the large group show Histories of LGBTQIA+ Diversity.
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