Catherine Opie: To Be Seen

An exhibition of photographic portraits by American artist Catherine Opie, curated in collaboration with the artist, will be the first major museum exhibition of her work to be shown in the UK, opening at the National Portrait Gallery in March 2026. Over the past 30 years, Opie has explored the portrait in numerous contexts, questioning representations of home, intimacy, and family on a domestic scale, and exploring politics, identity, and power structures on a national and international level. Her conceptually rigorous and formally executed photographs make visible queer communities, mentors, collaborators, children, surfers, high school footballers, political crowds, and Opie herself through self-portraiture. Works featured span her first major work, Being and Having (1991), ennobling portraits of LGBTQ+ friends inspired by court painter Hans Holbein, and Baroque-like portraits of artists, with portraits working in dialogue to create new narratives that challenge viewers to reflect on who is portrayed in art and who goes unseen.

Venue: National Portrait Gallery, London
Dates: 5 March – 31 May 2026
Tickets: Price not available
Exhibition highlights: The exhibition includes works from Opie’s career, from her first major work Being and Having (1991) to her Holbein-inspired portraits of LGBTQ+ friends and later Baroque-like artist portraits. A series of interventions will place Opie’s photographs in dialogue with the permanent Collection, probing further into representation within the context of the National Portrait Gallery.
Note: The exhibition will subsequently tour to the National Galleries of Scotland at the Royal Scottish Academy building in Edinburgh in summer 2026.