Acquired directly from the artist; Private collection, Europe
Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, November 2, 1997 – February 1, 1998; Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, February 28 – May 31, 1998; Prague, Galerie Rudolfinum, June 25 – August 23, 1998; London, Barbican Art Gallery, September 10 – December 13, 1998; Le CAPC Musée d’art Contemporain de Bordeaux, February 6 – April 25, 1999; Sydney, Museum of Contemporary Art, June 4 – August 29, 1999; Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario, October 1, 1999 – January 2, 2000, Cindy Sherman: Retrospective (another example exhibited)
A. Cruz, E. Smith, A. Jones, ed.s, Cindy Sherman: Retrospective, New York, 1997, p. 28, p. 71 (illustrated); D. Frankel, ed., The Complete Film Stills: Cindy Sherman, New York, 2003, p. 77 (illustrated)
American • 1954
Seminal to the Pictures Generation as well as contemporary photography and performance art, Cindy Sherman is a powerhouse art practitioner. Wily and beguiling, Sherman's signature mode of art making involves transforming herself into a litany of characters, historical and fictional, that cross the lines of gender and culture. She startled contemporary art when, in 1977, she published a series of untitled film stills.
Through mise-en-scène and movie-like make-up and costume, Sherman treats each photograph as a portrait, though never one of herself. She embodies her characters even if only for the image itself. Presenting subversion through mimicry, against tableaus of mass media and image-based messages of pop culture, Sherman takes on both art history and the art world.
Though a shape-shifter, Sherman has become an art world celebrity in her own right. The subject of solo retrospectives across the world, including a blockbuster showing at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and a frequent exhibitor at the Venice Biennale among other biennials, Sherman holds an inextricable place in contemporary art history.
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