Cindy Sherman Artist Exploration - Sherman started out as a - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Cindy Sherman

Artist Exploration

• Sherman started out as a painter in 1972.
• Following drawing inspiration from pop

culture imagery, film, fashion and television.

• She decided to assume the role as author,

director, designer and model

• By dressing up in various wigs and

costumes to portray a wide variety of characters.

• Hence, challenging the restrictives roles

and presentation of women in the media and the objectification of female sexuality.

• Perceiving women as the ‘other’

Untitled Film Still #10,Sherman,1978 Untitled Film Still #58,Sherman,1980

Practice

Cindy Sherman uses photography as an artistic tool to explores contemporary culture. In the untitled film still #21 she poses as a generic, female film character to make a commentary on stereotypical portrayals of women. Cindy Sherman does not aim to be a “feminist artist” but leaves her photography open to interpretation.

cindy in context and by critics and also in interviews !!!!!

called a “chameleon” and a “shape shifter”

sherman’s work was born out of an almost crippling shyness and fear of the outside world

hailed as a feminist, postmodernist, post-structuralist ??? ?

#21 Exploration

• The image could mimic the imagery

and photography of glossy magazines

• r, as the name suggests, an isolated

frame from a black and white film, as a result of its deliberate and improbable perspective.

• The image challenges the viewer’s

conceptions of ‘reality,’ while also questioning the cultural elements that frame our sense of an individual’s identity

Manhattan,1978

V Magazine,Spring 2014

Untitled Film Still #21,1978

Interview Magazine,2015

Focal Point

• Cindy Sherman is the main focal point, slightly off

center in the photograph

• The background is slightly blurred, making a clear

distinction between the foreground and background.

• Her expression of disgust, viewer inconclusive to what

triggered response “untitled film still 21”

• Film still number 21 out of 70

Possible reasons:

• generalization/stereotyping
• No real identity being portrayed which relates to her

aim of wanting to emphasize how the roles of women in movies are all the same

• No diversity in characterization
• For Sherman, ambiguity was important so just like

she didn’t want people to immediately recognize the scene, hence by not having a title it leaves the interpretation of which film it may be from open

“When I became involved with close-ups I needed more information in the expression. I couldn’t depend on background or atmosphere. I wanted the story to come from the face.”

Meaning of Title

Feelings and Reactions Evoked

• Control: sherman is entirely responsible for the scenario, every element is a deliberate and

considered choice. The highly structured nature arguably relates her work to sculpture.

• Reflection: The images recreate the near past (reinforced by the angle of the shot), evoking

nostalgia but also self examination and critique.

• Awareness: Sherman’s character gazes beyond the frame, making them appear reactive and

informing the viewer that it is a narrative with something occuring. Entire plot in one image.

• Anxiety: in contrast to the towering buildings, the model appears small and helpless. It is

common for victims to be ‘isolated before being subjected to violence’ in films. The sense of threat is heightened by parted lips.

Mirzoeff, Nicholas. How To See The World, London: Penguin Books, 2015

Historical Influence

Netherlandish Genre Painting

• The genre artists used imagery from popular

literature and theatre like Sherman borrows from television, novels and B-movies. Respective viewers identify with the subjects.

• Jan Steen and Sherman produce works of

themselves, but not self portraits. Both artists use costuming to make the distinction between themselves and character.

• Sherman and genre artists use visual description

with still life elements arranged purposefully. A high level of organisation and control is present in both works. Every detail conveys meaning.

• Both “condense an entire drama” into a single

image

Left: Untitled Film Still #2,Sherman,1977 Right: Woman before mirror,Frans van Mieris, 1670

Knight, Cheryl Krause. 2004. Just another day: Dutch genre themes in cindy sherman's untitled film stills. Visual Resources 20 (4): 275.

Artist Influence-Richard Price

• Part of the ‘Picture Generation’ alongside

Sherman

• Invented the ‘re-photography’ method,

using imagery from adverts

• Similarly explores visual stereotypes and

appropriates images

• Well known for pieces like ‘Untitled

(Cowboy)’.

Kroksnes, Andrea. 2002. Reframing the 80s: Visual culture and the picture generation.ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

Political Influences

• Attracted feminist readings as the work features and is produced by a woman.
• Explores stereotypes and norms of the role of women.
• ‘Even though I’ve never actively thought of my work as feminist or as a political statement,

certainly everything in it was drawn from my observations as a woman in this culture’ - Sherman.

• Undeniably female-oriented perspective,

Liu, Jui-Ch'i. 2010. Female spectatorship and the masquerade: Cindy sherman's untitled film stills. History of Photography 34 (1): 79-89.)

bibliography ???

http://www.dazeddigital.com/photography/article/32147/1/your-ultimate- guide-to-cindy-sherman

https://walkerart.org/magazine/cindy-sherman-walker-art-center

https://hyperallergic.com/51316/how-to-talk-about-art-cindy-sherman/

Kroksnes, Andrea. 2002. Reframing the 80s: Visual culture and the picture generation.ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.