Cindy Sherman

American, b. 1954

32k followers

Cindy Sherman

Bio

American, b. 1954

Followers
32k
Biography

Cindy Sherman established her reputation—and a novel brand of uncanny self-portraiture—with her “Untitled Film Stills” (1977-80), a series of 69 photographs of the artist herself enacting female clichés of 20th-century pop culture. Though her work continually re-examines women’s roles in history and contemporary society, Sherman resists the notion that her photographs have an explicit narrative or message, leaving them untitled and largely open to interpretation. “I didn’t think of what I was doing as political,” she once said. “To me it was a way to make the best out of what I liked to do privately, which was to dress up.” Always in meticulous costumes, wigs, and makeup, Sherman has produced series in which she dresses as women from history paintings, fashion, and pornography. In the late 1980s and into the ’90s, she expanded her focus to more grotesque imagery, like the mutilated mannequins of her “Sex Pictures” (1992).

Related Categories
Career Highlights
Learn more about artist insights.
Blue chip status
Blue chip representation
Represented by internationally reputable galleries.
Auction
High auction record
$7m, Christie's, 2014
User
Solo show at a major institution
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and 9 more
Group
Group show at a major institution
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and 33 more
Institution
Collected by a major institution
Tate, and 3 more
Publication
Reviewed by a major art publication
Artforum, and 6 more
Fair
Included in a major biennial
Venice Biennale International Exhibition, and 4 more
Biography

Cindy Sherman established her reputation—and a novel brand of uncanny self-portraiture—with her “Untitled Film Stills” (1977-80), a series of 69 photographs of the artist herself enacting female clichés of 20th-century pop culture. Though her work continually re-examines women’s roles in history and contemporary society, Sherman resists the notion that her photographs have an explicit narrative or message, leaving them untitled and largely open to interpretation. “I didn’t think of what I was doing as political,” she once said. “To me it was a way to make the best out of what I liked to do privately, which was to dress up.” Always in meticulous costumes, wigs, and makeup, Sherman has produced series in which she dresses as women from history paintings, fashion, and pornography. In the late 1980s and into the ’90s, she expanded her focus to more grotesque imagery, like the mutilated mannequins of her “Sex Pictures” (1992).

Career Highlights
Learn more about artist insights.
Blue chip status
Blue chip representation
Represented by internationally reputable galleries.
Auction
High auction record
$7m, Christie's, 2014
User
Solo show at a major institution
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and 9 more
Group
Group show at a major institution
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and 33 more
Institution
Collected by a major institution
Tate, and 3 more
Publication
Reviewed by a major art publication
Artforum, and 6 more
Fair
Included in a major biennial
Venice Biennale International Exhibition, and 4 more
Shows Featuring Cindy Sherman
Articles Featuring Cindy Sherman
How Mega-Collectors Don and Mera Rubell Keep Finding New Artists to Support
Nov 11th, 2019
How Mega-Collectors Don and Mera Rubell Keep Finding New Artists to Support
Six Women Artists Furthering Cindy Sherman’s Pioneering Vision
Jun 24th, 2019
Six Women Artists Furthering Cindy Sherman’s Pioneering Vision
Why Female Artists Have Used the Self-Portrait to Demand Their Place in Art History
May 13th, 2019
Why Female Artists Have Used the Self-Portrait to Demand Their Place in Art History
The 20 Most Influential Artists of 2017
Dec 15th, 2017
The 20 Most Influential Artists of 2017
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