b. San Francisco, CA 1953
Catherine Wagner works with elements of contemporary society and transforms them into conceptual images that investigate culture. For over thirty years, her interest in the built environment such as schools (American Classroom, 1983-1987), theme parks (Disney’s Theme Parks: The Architecture of Reassurance, 1995), convention centers (Louisiana World Exposition, 1984), and other institutions of learning and culture has informed her investigation of what art critic David Bonetti calls, “the systems people create, our love of order, our ambition to shape the world, the value we place on knowledge, and the tokens we display to express ourselves.” Thus, Wagner’s process helps us to understand the ways we construct our cultural identity.
With her early photographic works such as Early California Landscapes (1972-1979), Wagner observes the rapid development of California in the mid-seventies. With her fascination and knowledge embedded in urban and architectural environments, her works are in conversation with those of the New Topographers rather than the photographers of the American West such as Ansel Adams, Carleton Watkins, and Timothy H. O’Sullivan.
In addition to her studio work, Wagner has also created large-scale, site-specific public art pieces for the city of San Francisco, the UCSF Medical School, and most recently for the city of Los Angeles. Her public artwork combines the theoretical rigor of her studio practice with an awareness of of the specifics and history of each site.
Wagner currently resides in San Francisco, California and is an active international artist.
Education
| 1977-1981 | Masters of Art, San Francisco State University, CA |
| 1975 | Bachelors of Art, San Francisco State University, CA (Honors — Cum Laude) |
| 1972-'73 | College of Marin, Kentfield, CA |
| 1971 | San Francisco Art Institute, CA |
| 1970-'71 | Instituto del Arte, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico (Full Scholarship) |
Teaching
| 1995- | Professor of Art, Mills College, Oakland, CA |
| 2007 | Visiting Professor of Art, California College of Arts, San Francisco, CA |
| Visiting Professor of Art, University of California Los Angeles, Graduate Art Program, Los Angeles, CA | |
| 2004-'06 | Chair, Art Department, Mills College, Oakland, CA |
| 1992-'94 | Chair, Art Department, Mills College, Oakland, CA |
| 1979-'94 | Associate Professor of Art, Mills College, Oakland, CA |
Solo Exhibitions
| 2022 | End Grain: The Displaced Shadow, Crown Point Press, San Francisco, CA |
| 2021 | Clues to Civilization, Jessica Silverman, San Francisco, CA |
| 2019 | Catherine Wagner: Paradox Observed, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA |
| 2018 | Near Abstraction, Gallery Luisotti, Los Angeles, CA |
| Archeology in Reverse, Mills College Art Museum, Oakland CA | |
| Selections, Anglim Gilbert Gallery, San Francisco CA | |
| 2017 | In Situ: Traces of Morandi, Museo Morandi, Bologna, Italy |
| Frieze, Spotlight, New York, NY | |
| Frankenstein? Unicorn Art Center, Beijing | |
| 2015 | Rome Works, Anglim Gilbert Gallery, San Francisco, CA |
| 2013 | trans/literate, Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, CA |
| trans/literate, Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, CA | |
| 2010 | Reparations, Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, CA |
| Morphology, Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, CA | |
| 2008 | A Narrative History of the Light Bulb, Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, CA |
| 2007 | A Narrative History of the Light Bulb, Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, CA |
| 2006 | Re-Classifying History, 101 California Street Lobby, San Francisco, CA |
| 2005 | Re-Classifying History, de Young Museum (inaugural), San Francisco, CA |
| Catherine Wagner: Early Works 1975-1981, California Landscapes and Moscone Site, Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, CA | |
| 2004 | Trilogy: Reflections on Frankenstein, the Arctic Circle, and the History of Science, Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, CA (catalog) |
| 2003 | Cross Sections: Catherine Wagner, Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena, CA |
| 2002 | 12 Areas of Concern and Crisis, Installation at Comme des Garcons, Kyoto, Japan |
| 2001 | Cross Sections: Catherine Wagner, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA |
| Catherine Wagner: Selections 1980-2000, Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, CA | |
| 2000 | Realism and Illusion: Catherine Wagner Photographs the Disney Theme Parks, Nelson Atkins Museum, Kansas City, MO |
| 1999 | Realism and Illusion: Catherine Wagner Photographs the Disney Theme Parks, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, TX; Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, CA |
| Art & Science: Investigating Matter, Photographs by Catherine Wagner, Mead Art Museum, Amherst, MA | |
| 1999 | Catherine Wagner: Selections 1978-1998, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1997 | Catherine Wagner: Art & Science, Investigating Matter, University Art Museum, California State University, Long Beach, CA; Gallery Luisotti, Los Angeles, CA; International Center Of Photography, New York, NY; Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, CA |
| 1997 | Realism and Illusion: Catherine Wagner Photographs the Disney Theme Parks, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal, Canada; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; Armand Hammer, Los Angeles, CA |
| Catherine Wagner Photographs: Investigating Matter, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH | |
| Art & Science: Investigating Matter and American Classroom, Johnson County Community College, Kansas City, MO | |
| 1996 | Art & Science: Investigating Matter, Kemper Gallery of Art, Washington University, St. Louis, MO |
| 1994 | American Classroom, Museum fur Moderne Kunst, at Amerika House, Frankfurt, Germany (Netwerk Kulture catalog) |
| Home and Other Stories, Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, AZ | |
| 1993 | Home and Other Stories, Mills College, Oakland, CA; Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (catalog) |
| American Classroom: Photographs by Catherine Wagner, University Gallery Fine Arts Center, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, MA | |
| 1991 | American Classrooms: The Photographs of Catherine Wagner, Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA |
| Catherine Wagner, Selections, Turner/Krull Gallery, Los Angeles, CA | |
| 1990 | American Classroom: The Photographs of Catherine Wagner, Laurence Miller Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1989 | American Classroom: The Photographs of Catherine Wagner, The Ansel Adams Center, San Francisco, CA |
| 1989 | Photographs 1978-1988, Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, CA |
| 1988 | Catherine Wagner: Photographs from the American Classroom Project and the George Moscone Site, The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College, Chicago, IL |
| 1988 | Changing Places, Photographs by Catherine Wagner, Farish School of Architecture, Rice University, Houston, TX (catalog) |
| 1988 | American Classroom, The Photographs of Catherine Wagner, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX (publication) |
| 1987 | Catherine Wagner, 1976-1986, Min Gallery, Tokyo, Japan ( catalog) |
| 1985 | Oakland Museum – Oakes Gallery, Oakland, CA (brochure) |
| 1983 | New Image Gallery, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA |
| 1982 | Equivalents Gallery, Seattle, WA |
| 1982 | Simon Lowinsky Gallery, San Francisco, CA |
| 1980 | Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, CA |
| 1978 | Simon Lowinsky Gallery, San Francisco, CA |
Group Exhibitions
| 2022 | Micrographia: Karen Lofgren, Catherine Wagner, Gallery Luisotti x Royale Projects, Los Angeles |
| Transparency/Opacity, Saint Joseph’s Arts Foundation, San Francisco, CA | |
| Morandi. Resonancia Infinata (Infinite Resonance), Fundacion La Pedrera, Barcelona Spain | |
| 2021 | Morandi. Resonancia Infinata (Infinite Resonance), Fundacion MAPFRE, Madrid Spain |
| New Time: Art and Feminisms in the 21st Century, Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA. | |
| California Girls II, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA. Curated by Tom Marioni | |
| 2019 | Inside/Out, Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, CA |
| Academic Bodies, American Academy in Rome, Rome IT | |
| Selection of Photograph, Photo LA, Los Angeles, CA | |
| Aesthetics of Learning, Mishkin Gallery, New York, NY | |
| 2018 | Way Bay, Berkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA |
| Permanent Collection Exhibition, Art Institute of Chicago, Permanent Collection Galleries for Photography | |
| 2017 | Lumen, Granoff Arts Center Cohen Gallery, Brown University |
| 2016 | Recollected, Fine Arts Gallery, San Francisco State University |
| Strange Oscillations and Vibrations of Sympathy, University Galleries University of Illinois | |
| Chain Reaction 12, San Francisco Arts Commission Galleries, San Francisco, CA | |
| 2015 | Missing Persons, Cantor Arts Center, Stanford, CA |
| Flowers, Fruit, Books, Bones: Still Life, Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, AZ | |
| 2013 | Art on Paper, Datz Museum of Art, Gwangju, South Korea |
| Tradition of Mayhem, Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, CA | |
| 2012 | Yale University Art Gallery Re-Opening, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT |
| Recent Acquisitions, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN | |
| Stage Presence: Theatricality in Art and Media, SFMOMA, San Francisco, CA | |
| Silver Curtain, Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, CA | |
| 2011 | The Altered Landscape, The Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV |
| Polaroid [Im]possible, WestLicht – Museum of Photography, Vienna, Austria | |
| HERE, Pier 24 Photography, San Francisco, C A | |
| 2010 | Know the Rules – Then Break Them, di Rosa, Napa, CA |
| The Gallery of California Art, Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA, May, (3 Scrolls) | |
| State of Mind: A California Invitational, Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA, Feb-June | |
| Masterworks of American Photography: Popular Culture, Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, TX | |
| Real and HyperReal, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA | |
| The View From Here, SFMOMA, San Francisco, CA | |
| State of Mind, A California Invitational, MOPA, San Diego, CA | |
| 2009 | 75 Years of Looking Forward: The Anniversary Show, SFMOMA, San Francisco, CA |
| An Autobiography of the San Francisco Bay Area Part One: San Francisco Plays Itself, SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA (catalogue) | |
| 2008 | Selections from the Collection, SFMOMA, San Francisco, CA |
| New Work: Photography and Sculpture, Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, CA | |
| 2007 | CCA Alumni & Faculty Show, Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, CA |
| Home Sweet Home, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA | |
| Rembrandt to Thiebaud: A Decade of Collecting Works on Paper, The Legion of Honor Museum, San Francisco, CA (catalog) | |
| Bios 4, Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (CAAC ), Seville, Spain | |
| Take 2: Women Revisiting Art History, Mills College Art Museum, Oakland, CA | |
| 2006 | The Target Collection of American Photography: A Century in Pictures, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX |
| Middle Ground: Photographs from the Whitney Museum of American Art, Wallarch Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, NY | |
| 2005 | 150 Works of Art, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA |
| Worth a Thousand Words: The Book as Image, University Library Art Gallery, Sonoma State University, Sonoma, CA | |
| The Altered Landscape, National Academies of Science, Washington D.C. | |
| New Work: Squeak Carnwath, Mildred Howard, Catherine Wagner, di Rosa, Preserve Gatehouse Gallery, Napa, CA | |
| AxS: At the Intersection of Art and Science, Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA | |
| Recent Acquisitions, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA | |
| Selections from the Permanent Collection, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA (catalog) | |
| Boxed Sets: Portfolios of the Seventies, Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ | |
| Tree, Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, CA | |
| 2004 | Kurzdavordanach, SK Stiftungkultur, Koln, Germany |
| Inside Out: Selections from the Permanent Collection, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA | |
| Ditto: Multiples from the Collection, The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL | |
| The Altered Landscape, Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto at Mississauga, Ontario, Canada | |
| What’s Doin,’ Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, CA | |
| Visions of Passage, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA | |
| The Altered Landscape, Presentation House Gallery, Vancouver, Canada | |
| 2003 | How Human: Life in the Post-Genome Era, International Center of Photography, New York, NY |
| Public Record, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA | |
| The Altered Landscape, Norsk Museum of Fotografi Preus Fotomuseum, Horten, Norway | |
| The Altered Landscape, Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT | |
| Gene(sis): Contemporary Art Explores Human Genomics, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA | |
| 2002 | Constructing the 1930s, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA |
| Visions from America: Photographs from the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1940-2001, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY | |
| Parallels And Intersections: Art/Women/California 1950 – 2000, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA | |
| Gene(sis): Contemporary Art Explores Human Genomics, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA | |
| National Millennium Survey, Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA | |
| New Acquisitions/New Work/New Directions 3, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA | |
| The Altered Landscape, Sarjeant Gallery, Wanganui, New Zealand | |
| 2001 | A Love Affair with Pictures: 25 Years of Collecting at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, TX |
| Depicting Absence/Implying Presence, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, CA | |
| Architecture in Photography, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany | |
| The Altered Landscape, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZ | |
| 2000 | Made in California: Art, Image, and Identity, 1900-2000, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA |
| Foreign Bodies, Untitled (Space) 13, New Haven, CT | |
| Paradise Now: Creating the Genetic Revolution, Exit Art, New York, NY | |
| American Perspectives: Photographs from the Polaroid Collection, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japan | |
| Our Quarter Century: The University of Arizona's Center for Creative Photography Turns Twenty-Five, Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ | |
| Into Our Prime: Acquisitions Since 1996, Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ | |
| Beyond Boundaries: Contemporary Photography in California, University Art Museum, California State University, Long Beach, CA; Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, CA | |
| Neural Notations, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, San Francisco, CA | |
| Noise, The Wellcome Trust's Two10 Gallery, London, England (catalog); Kettle's Yard, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England (catalog) | |
| 1999 | Historically Speaking, University Art Museum, California State University, Long Beach, CA |
| Body as Commodity, Nexus Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, GA | |
| Outside the Box: Photography Portfolios from the Collection, Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA | |
| Museum Pieces: Bay Area Artists Envisioning the de Young, de Young Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA (brochure) | |
| The Altered Landscape, Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV | |
| Bay Area Now, II, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA (catalog) | |
| Into the Next Century: Selections from the Permanent Collection, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA (catalog) | |
| 1998 | Home Sweet Home, Transamerica Pyramid Gallery, San Francisco, CA |
| Inside These Walls, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX | |
| American Vernacular, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA | |
| Interface: Art & Tech in the Bay Area, Duke Univ. Museum of Art, Durham, NC | |
| Prime Focus, University Galleries, Normal, IL | |
| 1997 | Absolute Landscape: Between Illusion and Reality, Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, Japan |
| Scientia Artifex, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL | |
| 1995 | Assembled Photographs, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA |
| Selections From the Permanent Collection, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY | |
| Landscape: A Concept, Oliver Art Center, California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA | |
| Facing Eden: 100 Years of Landscape Art in the Bay Area, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, CA | |
| 1994 | Family Lives, Corcoran Museum of Art, Washington, D.C. |
| Old Glory, New Story, Capp Street Project, San Francisco, CA | |
| Discards, Secession Gallery at Haines Gallery, San Francisco, CA | |
| Shrines, Symbols & Cherished Objects, Fuller Museum of Art, Brockton, MA | |
| 1992 | Several Exceptionally Good Recently Acquired Pictures VI, Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, CA |
| Passages, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA | |
| New Acquisitions/New Work/New Directions, Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, CA | |
| To Collect the Art of Women: The Jane Reese Williams Collection of Photography, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM (catalog) | |
| 1991 | Past / Present: Photographs from the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Upper Jones Gallery, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX |
| SITE WORK: Architecture in Photography since Early Modernism, The Photographers' Gallery, London, England | |
| Silent Interiors, Security Pacific Gallery, Seattle, WA (catalog) | |
| California Cityscapes, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA (catalog) | |
| 1990 | Natural History Recreated, The Center for Photography at Woodstock, Woodstock, NY |
| Perspectives on Place: Attitudes Toward the Built Environment, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA | |
| 1989 | Picturing California, The Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA (catalog) |
| Theme and Variations: The Photographic Still Life, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA | |
| 1988 | Cross Currents/Cross Country, Camerawork Gallery, San Francisco, CA; The Photographic Resource Center, Boston, MA (catalog) |
| Evocative Presence: Twentieth-Century Photographs in the Permanent Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX (catalog) | |
| 1987 | A Look at Photography Books of 1987, International Center for Photography, New York, NY |
| New American Photography, Fogg Art Museum Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA | |
| 1986 | Midtown Review: A Look at Photography Books of 1986, International Center of Photography/Midtown, New York, NY (Publication: San Francisco Observed) |
| Bay Area Biennial, Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, CA (catalogue) | |
| Mills College Faculty Retrospective, Mills College, Oakland, CA (catalog) | |
| New American Photography, Min Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (catalog) | |
| 1985 | 20 x 24 Polaroid Exhibition, Friends of Photography, Carmel, CA |
| Photography from the Permanent Collection, National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. | |
| Settings – The Civic Center Project, A.P. Giannini Bank of America World Headquarters, San Francisco, CA | |
| La Photographie Creative, Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, France | |
| 1983 | California Sharp School, facets of the collection, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA |
| Landscape Now, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Rental Gallery, San Francisco, CA | |
| University Memorial Gallery, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO (two-person exhibition) | |
| 1982 | Slices of Time – California Landscape, 1860-1880, 1960-1980, Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA (catalog) |
| 1981 | University of California at Santa Cruz (two-person exhibition with Gail Skoff) |
| Landscape Photography, 1850-1980, Sacramento, CA (catalog) | |
| 1980 | Faculty Exhibition, Mills College Art Gallery, Oakland, CA |
| Contemporary California Photography, Camerawork Gallery, San Francisco, CA (catalog) | |
| 1978 | Memorial Union Gallery, University of California, Davis, CA (two-person exhibit with brochure) |
| Equivalents Gallery, Seattle, WA (two-person exhibition with Walker Evans) | |
| Cityscapes, Downtown Center Invitational Group Show, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA | |
| 1977 | Atholl McBean Gallery, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA |
Bibliography – Monographs
| 2001 | Butler, Helfand, Peat, Catherine Wagner: Cross Sections. Twin Palms Publishers. |
| 1996 | Homburg, Gass, Longino. Art & Science: Investigating Matter. Nazraeli Press and Washington University Gallery of Art. |
| 1993 | Conkelton, Sheryl. Home and Other Stories, Photographs by Catherine Wagner. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The University of New Mexico Press. |
| 1990 | Changing Places: Photographs by Catherine Wagner. Houston: Farish Gallery, Rice University |
| 1998 | Tucker, Anne Wilkes. American Classroom, The Photographs of Catherine Wagner. Houston: Museum of Fine Arts. |
Bibliography – Publications
| 2014 | Photograph Reproduced, Utopia, Blind Spot 47, Vik Muniz and Barney Kulok, April. |
| Multiple Exhibition Reproductions, Cinque Mostre, Cinque Mostre: Time & Again, Posa Edizioni, Feb. | |
| 2013 | Photographic Series and Interview, Catherine Wagner, Magazine Gitz |
| San Francisco: Civic Art and Urban Change, Susan Wels, pg. 117 | |
| 2012 | Introduction, My San Francisco, San Francisco City Guide, 2013, Louis Vuitton, pg. 10-11 |
| 2012 | Photographs Reproduced, Early California Landscapes, HERE., Pier 24 Photography, section 16 |
| 2010 | Profile and Photograph Reproduced, -86 Degree Freezers, Twelve Areas of Concern and Crisis |
| American Art & Philanthropy, Peter C. Marzio, pg 351 – 352 | |
| Photograph Reproduced, Green Energy, Le Monde Diplomatique, Cedric Gossart, Quand les technologies vertes poussent a la consommation, July. | |
| Photograph Reproduced, Emerson College, Southwick Hall, The New York Times Magazine, David Leonhardt, “Half a Degree”. May 9. | |
| 2009 | Photographs Reproduced, Portrait Wall, Blind Spot, Issue 39. |
| 2008 | Profile, California Home + Design, Dorka Keehn, “Frame of Reference”. June. Pg 135 |
| Profile, Bay Area News Group Sunday A&E, “The arts of motherhood”, May 11th. | |
| Preview, Flavorpill, Ashley Tibbits, “A Narrative History of the Light Bulb”, March | |
| Photograph Reproduced, The New York Times Style Magazine, Alice Rawsthorn, “Lights Out: An Ode to the dimming incandescent bulb.” Design & Living Spring. Pg 52. | |
| 2007 | Profile, Mills Quarterly, Glen Helfand, “Illuminating Culture”, Fall. Pg 14-15. |
| 2006 | Photograph Reproduced, Diagnosis [Art]: Contemporary Art Reflecting Medicine, pg. 139 |
| Photograph Reproduced, Exploring the Bancroft Library, pg. 80 | |
| Photograph Reproduced, Exposure, Spring 2006, pg. 1, pg. 51. | |
| Photograph Reproduced, New York Times Magazine, January 15. pg. 18. | |
| 2005 | de Jesus, Melinda, Pinay Power: Feminist Critical Theory, Theorizing the Filipina/American Experience, pg. 302-303 |
| “Object Lessons,” Mickey Rapkin, New York Times Style Magazine, Fall, p. 48. | |
| “San Francisco’s New Heights,” Lynne Yaeger, Travel and Leisure, September, p. 204. | |
| “Sitting or Standing, an Ovation,” Zahid Sardar, San Francisco Chronicle, November 12. | |
| Photograph Reproduced, New York Times Magazine, Nov. 27, pg. 19 | |
| Re-Classifying History: Catherine Wagner, de Young Museum (museum brochure) | |
| Crist, Steve, The Polaroid Book: Selections from the Polaroid Collection of Photography, Taschen, p.241 | |
| 2004 | Kurzdavordanach: Gegenwart als Zwischenraum, Revolver & Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Koln, Germany |
| Susan Anker, Dorothy Nelkin, The Molecular Gaze: Art in the Genetic Age, pg 145-146, 175, 179 | |
| Selections: The San Jose Museum of Art Permanent Collection (catalog) | |
| Art & Biotechnologies (CD-Rom), Groupe de Recherche en Arts Médiatiques (GRAM), Université du Québec à Montreal (Anthology) | |
| Camera Arts, “Curators as Collectors: Notes on Recent Museum Acquisitions and Gifts,” by Erin O’Toole, August/September 2004, pages 30-35. | |
| SEED, Portfolio, “Cross Sections,” Summer 2004, pages 70-79. | |
| San Francisco Chronicle Magazine, “Time Passages: Artists Catherine Wagner and Loretta Gargan’s Changing World,” by Zahid Sardar, February 15, pages 20-25. | |
| Trilogy: Reflections on Frankenstein, the Arctic Circle, and the History of Science, Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, CA (catalog) | |
| 2003 | How Human: Life in the Post-Genome Era, International Center of Photography (catalog) |
| Epicenter: San Francisco Bay Area Art Now, by Mark Johnstone and Leslie Aboud Holzman | |
| SEED, Portfolio, “-86 Degree Freezers,” Jan/Feb 2003, pages 74-83. | |
| 2002 | Visions from America: Photographs from the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1940-2001, by Sylvia Wolf and Andy Grundberg |
| Trajekte, “Catherine Wagner’s Laboratories,” Nr. 4 April 2002 | |
| 2001 | Calendar live, “A Master’s Long Shadow,” August 26, 2001 |
| 2000 | Paris Photo, "Catherine Wagner: Cross-Sections + Annotations," Issue 10. |
| Blind Spot, "Catherine Wagner: Cross-Sections + Annotations," Issue 15. | |
| Limn, "Catherine Wagner: Miracles and Madness," Issue 5, Page 15. | |
| Noise, The Welcome Trust's Two10 Gallery, London, England. (catalog) | |
| 2000 | Noise, Kettle's Yard, Cambridge, England. (catalog) |
| Foreign Bodies, Untitled (Space) 13, New Haven, CT. (catalog) | |
| Wired Magazine, Heather Sparks, “The Essential James Watson,” issue 8.09 | |
| 1999 | The Altered Landscape, Peter E. Pool, University of Nevada Press, |
| Bay Area Now 2, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA. (catalog) | |
| Museum Pieces, De Young Museum, San Francisco, CA. (brochure) | |
| Into the Next Century, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA. (catalog) | |
| Phenotypology, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, Buffalo, NY. (brochure) | |
| 1997 | The New Yorker, photograph, May 19, page 28. |
| The Village Voice, Critics Choice, photograph, April 1, page 13. | |
| 1996 | SEE: A Journal of Visual Culture, Issue 2:2, pages 32-41. |
| Zyzzyva, Vol. XII, No. 2, pages 74-79. | |
| 1995 | Facing Eden: 100 Years of Landscape Art in the Bay Area, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, CA. (catalog) |
| 1994 | Family Lives, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. |
| Kunst in Frankfurt, "Ein Dialog Europa-Amerika," Museum fur Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany. | |
| 1993 | House & Garden, "Portraits Without People," June, page 52. |
| Los Angeles Times Magazine, "Interiors," May 23, page 18. | |
| 1992 | To Collect the Art of Women: The Jane Reese Williams Collection of Photography, Essay by Eugenia Parry Janis, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM. |
| 1991 | California Cityscapes, Mary Stofflet, Curator, Essay by James A. Clapp, San Diego, CA. |
| SITE WORK: Architecture in Photography since Early Modernism, by Martin Caiger-Smith, The Photographers' Gallery, London, England. | |
| The Science of Words, George A. Miller, Scientific American Library, New York, NY, page 3. | |
| 1990 | Changing Places: Photographs by Catherine Wagner, Farish Gallery Rice University (catalog) |
| Metropolis, Richard Gehr "Insights & Reviews," May, page 35. | |
| The New Yorker, "Goings On About Town," April 16, page 19. | |
| Details, "I Left My Art in San Francisco," April, pages 149-153. | |
| 1989 | SF Magazine, Vicki Bates "Catherine Wagner: Photographing the Construction Site as Art Object," |
| Harpers Magazine, "Who Needs the Great Work?," September, pages 47-51. | |
| The Sciences, "The Stage is Set – Photographs by Catherine Wagner," July/August, pages 30-33. | |
| Metropolitan Home, Andy Grundberg "The New Hot Shots," July. | |
| 1988 | Connecting Conversations, Edited by Moira Roth "Interviews with 28 Bay Area Women Artists," Eucalyptus Press. |
| 1987 | Aperture, "Technology and Transformation," No. 106. |
| Athletes, Ruth Silverman, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA. | |
| 1986 | Zyzzyva Magazine, Vol. 11, No. 3. |
| Bay Area Biennial, Newport Harbor Art Museum. (catalog) | |
| Mills College Faculty Retrospective, Mills College, Oakland, CA. (catalog) | |
| New American Photography, Min Gallery, Tokyo, Japan. (catalog) | |
| San Francisco Observed, Chronicle Books. | |
| 1985 | The American Classroom, essays by Therese Heyman and Lewis Baltz, Oakland Museum, CA. (brochure) |
| 1983 | Picture Magazine, No. 20. |
| 1982 | Slices of time, Oakland Museum, CA. (brochure) |
| 1981 | Archetype, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA. (brochure) |
| 1980 | Large Spaces in Small Places, "Survey of Western Landscape Photography 1850-1980," Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA. (catalog) |
| 1979 | 35mm Photography, Winter. |
| Picture Magazine, No. 11. | |
| Latent Image, No. 2. | |
| Latent Image, No. 3. | |
| 1978 | New West Magazine, Peter Plagens and Carol Field "Eye The Collector," Nov. 6. |
| Untitled, essay by Marla Katz Westover, Guest Curator, University of California, Davis, CA. (brochure) | |
| Untitled, essay by Jack Welpott, The Friends of Photography, Carmel, CA, No. 14. | |
| Contemporary California Photography, Camerawork Gallery, San Francisco, CA. (catalog) | |
| Arts Contemporary, essay by Hal Fisher "Contemporary Bay Area Photography," LaMamelle, exhibition page. | |
| 1977 | College of Marin Times, interview. |
| Pacific Sun, exhibition page. |
Public Collections
| Bancroft Library Pictorial Collection, University of California, Berkeley | |
| Berkeley Art Museum, University of California | |
| The Art Museum at the University of Kentucky | |
| Bibliotheque National de Paris | |
| CCA Montreal | |
| Center of Creative Photography | |
| Chase – Manhattan Bank | |
| de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA | |
| Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas | |
| First National Bank of Chicago, IL | |
| Hewlett Packard Corporation | |
| International Center of Photography, New York | |
| La Salle Bank | |
| Levi Strauss Corporation | |
| The Library of Congress | |
| Los Angeles County Museum of Art | |
| Metropolitan Museum of Art | |
| Minneapolis Institute of the Arts | |
| Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles | |
| Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL | |
| Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX | |
| Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany | |
| Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY | |
| National Museum of American Art – Smithsonian Institution, NY | |
| E. L. Wiegand Gallery, Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV | |
| The Oakland Museum, CA | |
| Polaroid Collection, Cambridge, MA | |
| Progressive Corporation | |
| Santa Barbara Museum of Art, CA | |
| San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA | |
| San Jose Museum of Art, CA | |
| Sprint Corporation | |
| Cantor Center for the Visual Arts at Stanford University, CA | |
| Tokyo Institute of Polytechnics | |
| Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS | |
| Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England | |
| Walker Art Center, MN | |
| Whitney Museum of Art, NY | |
| Yale University Art Gallery, CT |
Awards and Honors
| 2017- | Inaugural Nancy Cook Endowed Chair, Mills College, Oakland, CA |
| 2013-'14 | Fellowship, The Rome Prize, American Academy in Rome, Rome, Italy |
| 2007-'09 | Artist-in-Residence, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA |
| 2007 | Award, Artadia: The Fund for Art & Dialogue |
| 2005 | Faculty Research Grant, Mills College, Oakland, CA |
| 2002 | Joan and Robert Danforth Distinguished Professorship in the Arts, Mills College, Oakland, CA |
| 1998 | Visual Arts Fellowship, Weizmann Institute, Rehovot, Israel |
| 1997 | Visual Arts Fellowship, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA |
| 1995 | Visual Arts Fellowship, Aaron Siskind Foundation |
| 1995 | Fellowship for Art & Science Project, Research Corporation |
| 1994 | Cypress Award, Center for Photographic Arts |
| 1994 | Visiting Artist Fellowship, Art and Science Project, Washington University, St. Louis, MO |
| 1994 | Faculty Research Grant, Mills College, Oakland, CA |
| 1993 | Faculty Research Grant, Mills College, Oakland, CA |
| 1990/91 | Visual Artist Fellowship in Photography, National Endowment for the Arts |
| 1987 | Visual Arts Fellowship, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation |
| 1985 | Faculty Research Grant, Mills College, Oakland, CA |
| 1984 | Ferguson Grant, Friends of Photography |
| 1983 | Faculty Research Grant, Mills College, Oakland, CA |
| 1983 | Mellon Foundation Grant |
| 1982 | Faculty Research Grant, Mills College, Oakland, CA |
| 1981 | Mellon Foundation Grant |
| 1981 | Visual Artist Fellowship in Photography, National Endowment for the Arts |
| 1980 | Faculty Research Grant, Mills College, Oakland, CA |