Lecture by Catherine Opie

What defines a person? What influences shape identity? How can social attributions be overcome, and what alternative lifestyles are conceivable and livable?
These questions form a central starting point in Catherine Opie's work.

Biographical background and artistic practice

Born in Sandusky, Ohio, in 1961 and now living in Los Angeles, Opie works with three fundamental photographic genres: landscape, portrait, and documentary. She understands these less as fixed categories than as starting points for a continuous exploration of visibility, representation, and photography as an act of witnessing.

Opie's work combines documentary precision with artistic composition and poetic depth. It ranges from early portraits of her queer community, inspired by the painting tradition of the Renaissance, to series in which landscapes become resonant spaces for identity, hope, and trauma, to haunting documentaries of social movements such as Black Lives Matter or protest marches in the context of Donald Trump's presidency.

As a keen observer of social life, Catherine Opie continues the tradition of socially oriented documentary photography of the 20th century. References to photographic positions such as Lewis Hine, Robert Frank, Diane Arbus, and Dorothea Lange are just as present as her far-sighted, sensitive updating of this tradition for the present day.

On the occasion of her solo exhibition “The Pause That Dreams Against Erasure” in Kassel, the Neue Nationalgalerie, the American Academy in Berlin, and the Fridericianum invite you to a joint event with the artist.
In her lecture, Catherine Opie will provide insights into her artistic practice, the development of her work, and the social issues that continue to drive her work today.

The lecture will be followed by a Q&A session, which will provide an opportunity for exchange and discussion.

• The event will be held in English.
  
• Admission is free.
  
• Registration is not required.