New York Times / In 1975, Sherman was introduced to conceptual art, which had a liberating effect on her. Cindy Sherman is a contemporary master of socially critical photography. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Or maybe you like this version of me.". Born out of the collaboration between Cindy Sherman and Supreme in 2017, this sold-out skate diptych, features original images from Sherman's much heralded Grotesque Series of photo ... Category 1980s Pop Art Cindy Sherman Photography In 1972 she enrolled at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo and majored in painting, later switching her major to photography. When Cindy Sherman was a child, she was given a pile of vintage 1920s clothes by her great-grandmother. Cindy Sherman at MoMA. ", "Everyone thinks these are self-portraits but they aren’t meant to be. Cindy Sherman - the Photographer of Performance As a performative photographer, Sherman’s process of creation begins with hours of preparations, such as layering on the wigs, prosthetics, make-up and carefully chosen clothes, everything with the aim of embodying the things and expectations imposed on women by society and culture. ", "The way I see it, as soon as I make a piece I’ve lost control of it. Cindy Sherman Untitled Film … Sherman's work is central in the era of intense consumerism and image proliferation at the close of the 20th century. I try to put double or multiple meanings into my photos, which might give rise to a greater variety of interpretations. Sherman sought to call into question the seductive and often oppressive influence of mass-media over our individual and collective identities. By Regis Durand, Jean-Pierre Criqui, Laura Mulvey, By Eva Respini, Johanna Burton, Cindy Sherman, John Waters, By Andy Grundberg, Peter Schjeldahl, Roberta Smith, Lisa Phillips, Cindy Sherman, By Catherine Morris, Paul Ha, Kate Wagner, Cindy Sherman, By Jennifer Blessing, Judith Halberstam Catalog of the exhibition held at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, in 1997, By Benjamin Genocchio / If you find yourself saying that, not just once but again and again and again, you are not alone. In 1995, she was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. American photographer, Cindy Sherman, is a master of socially critical photography and contemporary art. Omissions? Rather, Sherman uses herself as a vehicle for commentary on a variety of issues of the modern world: the role of the woman, the role of the artist and many more. Sherman's photographic portraiture is both intensely grounded in the present while it extends long traditions in art that force the audience to reconsider common stereotypes and cultural assumptions, among the latter political satire, caricature, the graphic novel, pulp fiction, stand-up comedy (some of her characters are indeed uncomfortably "funny"), and other socially critical disciplines. For four decades, Cindy Sherman has probed the construction of identity, playing with the visual and cultural codes of art, celebrity, gender, and photography. [...] That's certainly something I don’t think men would relate to". Starting out as a painter in 1972, she moved towards photography and began using make-up and costume to create images of herself as various societal archetypes. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. In 2016 Sherman was awarded the Praemium Imperiale prize in painting, a category that also encompasses photography. All Rights Reserved, Cindy Sherman - MoMA 2012 Exhibition Catalogue, Cindy Sherman: The Complete Untitled Film Stills, Rrose is a rrose is a rrose : gender performance in photography, Cindy Sherman - Biography & Art - The Art History Archive, The Ever-Shifting Selves Of Cindy Sherman, Girlish Vamp to Clown. This seemingly inconsequential gift would prove a pivotal moment in Sherman’s life, for it was through this pile of clothes that Sherman learned the power of transformation: through these items, she could inhabit a myriad of alter-egos. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Cindy Sherman: Empathetic Artist Should Cindy Sherman be viewed an artist poking fun at society and the disenfranchised people or as a photographer encouraging society to re-examine its obsession with youth and status? May 15, 2000. When the Museum of Modern Art announced in 1996 that it had just acquired Sherman's complete Untitled Film Still series, the curators knew they had laid claim to one of the most representative works of the early 1980s American movement of "appropriation," and "simulationism." Cindy Sherman has spent most of her 62 years using her camera as a way to explore concepts of identity, sexuality, and largely, femininity. Cindy Sherman, in full Cynthia Morris Sherman, (born January 19, 1954, Glen Ridge, New Jersey, U.S.), American photographer known for her images—particularly her elaborately “disguised” self-portraits—that comment on social role-playing and sexual stereotypes. Always in meticulous costumes, wigs, and makeup, Sherman has produced series in which she dresses as women from history paintings, fashion, and pornography. Sparse lighting centers the composition and lends an ominous tone to the entire photograph. ", "I didn't want to make 'high' art, I had no interest in using paint, I wanted to find something that anyone could relate to without knowing about contemporary art. 'Pictures By Women': A Too-Ambitious Exhibition? The books and articles below constitute a bibliography of the sources used in the writing of this page. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership, This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cindy-Sherman, The Lilith Gallery of Toronto - Biography of Cindy Sherman, Artfacts.net - Biography of Cindy Sherman, National Portriat Gallery - Biography of Cindy Sherman. Main; Clothes; Photographer Cindy Sherman attends the 2013 Party In The Garden at the Museum of Modern Art on May 21, 2013 in New York City. ", "One reason I was interested in photography was to get away from the preciousness of the art object.". Talking about her self-portraits, Cindy Sherman described how, as the youngest child and “total latecomer” in her family, she often dressed up to occupy herself, wondering, "If you don’t like me this way, how about you like me this way? American, born 1954. Aug 10, 2019 - Explore Eric Landgraf's board "Cindy Sherman photos" on Pinterest. Cindy Sherman is an American photographer and film maker who is known for her conceptual self portraits. She then took the photographs an… As though they constituted only a first premise, however, these images promptly begin to unravel in various ways that suggest how self identity is often an unstable compromise between social dictates and personal intention. Cindy Sherman Untitled Film Still #52, 1979 gelatin silver print mounted on board 25 5/8 x 37 1/4 inches 65.1 x 94.6 cm . Others still, assert that both cases are simultaneously true, with Sherman knowingly taking on stereotypical female roles in order to question their pervasiveness. That same year a major retrospective of her work was exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Photography by Jason Schmid t. February 20, 2017 This article originally appeared in the December 2013 issue of Architectural Digest. Interview By Therese Lichtenstein, By Martin Schoeller / Untitled Film Still #13 issues from Sherman's epic "Untitled Film Still" series (they did not actually derive from a larger movie) of the late 1970s, by which she first made a widespread reputation for herself as a witty commentator on the female role models of her youth, as well as those of an earlier generation. In 2013 she received an honorary doctorate degree from the Royal College of Art, London. Long assumed to be a medium that "mirrors" reality with precision, photography in Sherman's hands simultaneously constructs and critiques its apparent subject. These also suggest some accessible resources for further research, especially ones that can be found and purchased via the internet. CINDY SHERMAN (American, b. Cindy Sherman, in full Cynthia Morris Sherman, (born January 19, 1954, Glen Ridge, New Jersey, U.S.), American photographer known for her images—particularly her elaborately “disguised” self-portraits—that comment on social role-playing and sexual stereotypes. The blonde chameleon, known for her multiple personality self portraits, turns 59 today. ", "I didn’t think of what I was doing as political. Cindy Sherman was born in 1954 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. In this example, Sherman employs her own image as to suggest the central character in a 1960s "coming of age" romance, the young female intellectual on the verge of discovering her "true womanhood," or the prototypical virgin. Know if you have suggestions to improve this article originally appeared in the era of intense consumerism and proliferation! 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