Catherine Opie "The pause that dreams against erasure"

The Fridericianum presents the first institutional solo exhibition of Catherine Opie in Germany, in parallel with the artist's show at the National Portrait Gallery in London. The presentation has been specifically designed by the artist for the Fridericianum, allowing the works to enter into a dialogue with the architecture and history of the historic building. Central groups of works from over thirty years are shown: from early portrait photographs in the LGBTQIA* communities, through photographic series that explore landscapes as resonance spaces for identity, hopes, and traumas, to the documentations of movements like Black Lives Matter or protest marches in the context of Donald Trump's presidency. The questions of what constitutes a person, what influences shape them into who they are, how a detachment from determinative societal influences is possible, and what alternative life plans might be realistic options form the central framework for Catherine Opie's work. Since the early 1990s, the artist has been working on a complex body of work that includes primarily photographs, but also films, art books, and installations. Opie draws on the traditions of socially oriented photography from the 20th century and subjects them to a farsighted, empathetic updating. In doing so, she establishes her own visual language and aesthetics, which, together with the societal relevance of her themes, ranks her among the most influential positions of the present.