Cindy Sherman - Photographs New York Tuesday, April 1, 2014 | Phillips
  • Provenance

    Metro Pictures, New York

  • Literature

    Thames & Hudson, Cindy Sherman: Retrospective, p. 139

  • Catalogue Essay

    Cindy Sherman’s Untitled #303, 1994 stands at the intersection of the artist’s second Fashion series (1993-1994) and Horror & Surrealist pictures (1994-1996). In the former series Sherman adorned high-fashion to intentionally disquieting effects, turning couture into an imposing restriction and subverting the role of the model from mannequin to rebel. Alternately, in the latter series Sherman relied on mannequins to model human psychological states that often involved fantasies and dreams. In Untitled #303, Sherman dressed a mannequin as a fortuneteller and proceeded to multiply her likeness three times across the frame to emphasize the controlled illusion of the profession itself as well as the scene. By doing so, Sherman blurs the line between reality and myth, presenting the two as interchangeable constructs.

  • Artist Biography

    Cindy Sherman

    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.

    View More Works

207

Untitled #303

1994
Chromogenic print, flush-mounted.
67 1/4 x 41 in. (170.8 x 104.1 cm)
Signed, dated and numbered 6/6 in ink on a gallery label affixed to the reverse of the frame.

Estimate
$60,000 - 80,000 

Contact Specialist
Vanessa Kramer Hallett
Worldwide Head, Photographs
vhallett@phillips.com

Shlomi Rabi
Head of Sale, New York
srabi@phillips.com

General Enquiries:
+1 212 940 1245

Photographs

New York Auction 1 April 10am & 2pm