Catherine Opie American, 1961

Born 1961, Sandusky, Ohio; lives in California.

American artist, Catherine Opie, received her BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and her MFA degree from California Institute of the Arts.

Opie's career has been noted for her ongoing investigation of identity politics and American social phenomena. Though specializing in portraiture, Opie has worked extensively with landscape, cityscape, and architecture photography. She first gained attention in the early 1990s for her portraiture series of lesbian and transgender men and women. This series captured highly individualistic subjects, fully exposed, against vibrant backdrops. She has since, continuously shocked her viewers in her relentless portrayal of "queerness," challenging gender norms, homophobia, and raising questions about community. Her work explores individual identity and captures the social landscape of America.

Catherine Opie has exhibited throughout the United States, as well as abroad. She has participated in exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and two Biennials at the Whitney Museum of Art. In 2009, the Guggenheim Museum in New York hosted a major retrospective entitled Catherine Opie: American Photographer.