Catherine Opie has an international reputation as one of the leading photographers of her generation. The exhibition at Heide combines key works from across her oeuvre with a focus on notions of affiliation. It traverses Opie’s early, most recognisable works exploring constructions of gender and sexuality, through alternative conceptions of the nuclear household—chosen family portraits that transcend traditional familial ties—to more recent musings on solidarity and collective action in the face of proliferating global crises. In 1994, Heide exhibited eighteen of Opie’s portraits in the exhibition Persona Cognita, curated by Juliana Engberg. That exhibition represented Opie’s first showing in Australia, and now almost three decades later Heide will host the first survey of the artist’s work in this part of the world.

Image:
Catherine Opie
Bo 1994
C-print
152.4 x 76.2 cm
© Catherine Opie, Courtesy Regen Projects, Los Angeles and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong, London, and Seoul