Cindy Sherman: Photographer/Artist

Figure 2 Figure 1

Gary Wilson Professor :Jerry Nevins Museum Experience April 8, 2011 My visit to the Bruce Museum revealed a true artist that I had no prior knowledge of. I was in awe my entire visit. I was Fascinated by Cindy Sherman’s choice of characters(self) and how she used portrait to represent society. Moments into my visit, I fell into daze, hypnotized by her camera angle, lighting, and moments of gloom. Her work sent me into a frenzy that is now unrecoverable . After several hours at the Bruce Museum, I became intoxicated and infected with Sherman’s artwork/photography. For Cindy Sherman, Identity is an important issue that defines how an individual interacts with others. In her work, the American conceptual artist Cindy Sherman explores identity as a product of the individual and society. Sherman’s photographs are notable since she is the principle subject although she is often disguised into different characters. Many of her works are paradoxical in nature given that they are self-portraits although they cannot be considered as such. This is because they do not represent her although she is the subject of the artworks (Searle). She often produces a series of photographs on a given subject thus ensuring that she has explored the subject comprehensively. Sherman uses her work to commentate on social issues; for example, in response to censorship attempts of other artists by the National Endowments for Arts (NEA), she produced the Sex series in which medical dummies were posed in risqué positions (Art History Archive). Born on January 19,1954, Cindy Sherman was the fifth child born to her parents. As a child Sherman had no conceptual interest in art. Cindy Sherman envision artist as a courtroom artist or one of those boardwalk artists who do caricatures. Despite her lack of interest , her parents kept a broad collection of artworks ranging from Dali to Picasso. In 1972 Cindy Sherman went off to State University college of Buffalo to study art. It was there that she developed a full pledge passion for art. Although she was driven to create art paintings, she became frustrated secondary to the reputation and limitation that art portrayed. Sherman decided to wash herself from painting and decided to embark career in photography. shortly after graduating from Buffalo State University College in 1977, she began taking characteristic photographs . Then working in black and white, the characters she created imitated promotional pictures from the film industry. The photos, which number sixty-nine, were created such that they seem to have originated from existing films. The photos are called the Untitled Film Stills and they display the artist disguised as film stars in different backgrounds. The images strongly display the characters of the subjects and hence viewers can infer about the roles the film stars were playing. Figure 1. A photo of Sherman as a film star titled Untitled Film Still #13 now part of a collection at the Museum of Modern Art (Galassi). As such, her artworks are character studies of images that are exploited by the film industry to create characters. Since they are easily identifiable, they show the power of appearance to communicate identity in society. The artist once remarked that she stopped creating the images after she run out of clichés (Galassi). As such, she is examining established images of people and their meaning in society. She is quoted as saying that she is not interested in the identity of the model; rather, she is interested in communicating ideas and feelings to the viewer about himself/herself, or society in general (Phillips). Her work is classified as belonging to the conceptual style given that her photos do not aim to appeal to individuals aesthetically; rather, her work is designed to communicate ideas or concepts to the audience. Some of her work now forms a collection at the Museum of Modern Art. This fittingly displays the recognition Sherman has gained over the years for the novelty and power of the images she creates. Sherman has been the recipient of MacArthur Fellowships, which is also referred to as the Genius Awards, and is worth 500,000 dollars (Phillips). This was in recognition of her talent and as means for helping her to pursue it more effectively. In 1996, the complete Untitled Film Stills series was sold for one million dollars to a museum, a great achievement for a living artist. This financial success is reflective of the critical acclaim she has enjoyed throughout her career. As such, her work has been exhibited in major museums and galleries the world over. For example, in 1999, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney hosted a major showing of her work (Phillips).The Bruce Museum in Greenwich Connecticut curently have her Artwork on display. The success shows that her work is well recognized. Sherman uses existing perceptions about people in society to create iconic representations of the people. By employing her gift for observing salient characteristics that define people, she uses makeup and props to recreate their images. These images include subjects such as the washed out old woman, the seductive prostitute, hard working office girl, and the glamorous beauty (Molesworth). The fact that the audience recognizes what the images represent raises questions about the unreliable nature of human perceptions. The reality is that the women are Sherman; yet, by changing her appearance, she gains new identities. Since the audience is aware of the artist’s disguise, it is forced to examine its own prejudices about other people given that they judge them based on their outward appearance. The issues that interest her most are those affecting women since most of her work features women. As such, her work is considered feminist, a tag that she readily accepts (Tate Magazine). For example, in a series that was titled “centerfolds”, Sherman tackled the issue of women being objectified in the media. In an artwork that is called Untitled #122 – 1983, Sherman is photographed as a blond woman who is wearing a black suit. Her hair is covering most of her face although one of her eyes is visible through the hair and it glares at the viewer. The character seems to be cornered at a wall and is seemingly very angry since her fists are clenched, as if preparing to fight someone (Phillips). The image can be interpreted as women in society who have been cornered by societal restrictions and discrimination. The covered face helps to hide features that might help the viewer to recognize the woman thereby allowing her to represent all women in society. Her stance, whereby she is slightly leaning forward with clenched fists, shows that women are ready to fight for their rights since they have been cornered and have no other way out. Figure 2. A photo showing Sherman’s Untitled #122 – 1983 (Art History Archive). Sherman is a successful photographer whose work has earned her critical recognition and financial success. The photographer’s success is partly due to her unusual work given that she is the main subject in the work. However, she is often disguised in the works to communicate different ideas. One of the main issues that she examines in her work is identity and she does this by using iconic images that are easily recognizable in society. In her work, she uses images of women to address their issues, a practice that has caused her work to be labeled feminist. The artist has continued to use her work to highlight social issues and to bring about change in society.
Works Cited
Art History Archive. Cindy Sherman.2011. Web. 8 April 2011. Galassi, Peter. The Complete Untitled Film Series. 7 September 1997. Web. 8 April 2011. Molesworth, Helen. The Comfort of Objects. Frieze Magazine Issue 36. October 1997. Web. 8 April 2011. Searle, Adrian. Dressing Up In Public. 5 June 2003. Web. 8 April 2011. Tate Magazine. Cindy Sherman. 5 June 2003. Web. 8 April 2011. Phillips, Richard. Cindy Sherman Retrospective: An artist to be taken seriously. 18 August 1999 Web. 8 April 2011.