Artworks

Catherine Opie

American, b. 1961

Bo, 1994

C-print

Edition 7/8

61 1/8 x 31 1/8 in. (155.3 x 79.1 x 5.1 cm)

Marie-Louise and Samuel R. Rosenthal Fund, 2021

Catherine Opie first gained acclaim in the 1990s with two series, Being and Having (1991) and Portraits (1993-97). Drawing from the influence of Italian and Northern Renaissance portraiture, photographed friends in the gay, lesbian, and leather communities of L.A. and San Francisco, her crucibles as an artist and activist. Bo is one of the signature photographs in the Portraits series, a rare self-portrait of the artist herself, complete with the fake mustache — a talisman of identity, gender, gender stereotype, performance (or none of the above: an existence incognito) — that served as a recurring motif throughout the series.