That’s me

This book, which accom­pa­nies a major exhi­bi­ti­on at the Natio­nal Por­trait Gal­le­ry, con­si­ders Cin­dy Sherman’s oeu­vre through the lens of por­trai­tu­re. Fea­turing key examp­les of her work — from her ear­liest pho­to­graphs through to her most recent — it explo­res the mer­cu­ri­al rela­ti­ons­hip bet­ween appearan­ce and rea­li­ty Cin­dy Sher­man is among the most influ­en­ti­al artists of her genera­ti­on. Using herself as model, wea­ring a ran­ge of cos­tu­mes and por­tray­ing herself in inven­ted situa­tions, she inter­ro­ga­tes the image­ry employ­ed by the mass media, po pular cul­tu­re and fine art. Tele­vi­si­on, adver­ti­sing, maga­zi­nes, fashion and Old Mas­ter pain­tings all form part of her visu­al lan­guage. Whe­ther using make-up, cos­tu­mes, props and prost­he­tics to mani­pu­la­te her own appearan­ce, or devi­sing ela­bo­ra­te tableaux, her ent­i­re body of 40 years’ work con­sti­tu­tes a high­ly dis­tinc­ti­ve respon­se to con­tem­pora­ry and ear­lier cul­tu­re, who­se sty­listic tro­pes she appro­pria­tes and quo­tes. This book will explo­re the rich cul­tu­ral sources that Sher­man plun­ders in crea­ting pro­vo­ca­ti­ve and ambi­guous images that lead us to ques­ti­on the things we see. Sherman’s work is sur­vey­ed through two rela­ted the­mes. Exami­ning Sherman’s art wit­hin the con­text of por­trai­tu­re it explo­res the way that iden­ti­ty is con­struc­ted from appearan­ce. It also con­si­ders the natu­re of Sherman’s invol­ve­ment with a ran­ge of styles by posi­tio­ning her work in the con­text of the pre-exis­ting image­ry that she appropriates.

Inclu­des con­tri­bu­ti­ons from: Nicho­las Cul­li­n­an (Director’s Fore­word); Eri­ka Bal­som (In the Com­pa­ny of Images: Unti­t­led Film Stills); Mag­da Kea­ney (Cin­dy Sherman’s Fashion Pic­tures) and Rochel­le Stei­ner (The Digi­tal Divide).

Kata­log zu den Aus­stel­lun­gen in der:
Natio­nal Por­trait Gal­le­ry, Lon­don: 27.6. bis 15.9.2019
Fon­da­ti­on Lou­is Vuit­ton, Paris: 23.09.2020 bis 3.1.2021