Catherine Opie: To Be Seen

Interesting exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery of work by the photographer Catherine Opie.

I'd seen an early show by Opie at the Walker Gallery in 2014 which had stayed with me, so I was interested to see more of her work.

As the blurb says Opie "makes photographs that question the who, how and why of representation". For me, what gives them weight, is their referencing of art historical work. I loved that more of her work was shown around the gallery with older portraits.

Opie is a Lesbian and there is lots of references to her community and to different types of family. The works were shown in series and were well explained.

Closed 31 May 2026


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