Catherine Opie: 700 Nimes Road presents new and recent work by Los Angeles-based artist Catherine Opie, an essential figure in contemporary photography. Taken over the course of six months at the Bel-Air, California, residence of the late actress Elizabeth Taylor, the exhibition’s photographs are drawn from two series: Closets and Jewels, and 700 Nimes Road. Inspired by William Eggleston’s images of Elvis Presley’s Memphis estate, Graceland, Opie creates a portrait of Taylor from her personal space and mementos.
The artist photographs rooms, closets, shoes, clothing, and jewelry that depict an indirect, yet deeply intimate, portrait of a life defined by wealth and fame. In Opie’s words, the project is not about the relationship to celebrity but about “the relationship to what is human.”
Catherine Opie: 700 Nimes Road is organized by The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.