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The MoMA in New York will present from February 26th to june 11th 2012 a new exhibition about American photographer Cindy Sherman. It will be a retrospective of 170 photographs from mid 70’s until today. We will be able to see the key series like the “untitled” but also the black and white pictures, her ornate history portraits and milkmaids in the manner of old master paintings.

Cindy-sherman-moma

The exhibition will explore dominant themes throughout Sherman’s career, including artifice and fiction; cinema and performance; horror and the grotesque; myth, carnival, and fairy tale; and gender and class identity. Also included are Sherman’s recent photographic murals (2010), which will have their American premiere at MoMA.

Here is a video with Ingrid Sischy, the Editor-in-chief of Interview magazine, about Cindy Sherman work:

Cindy Sherman was born in 1954 in New Jersey USA. She is world known for her very conceptual portraits in which she is the main character, always with the Camera remote control in the hand, like a signature.

She is also known for raising interesting thoughts about the representation of women in our modern society, the media and the creation of Art. One of her first interesting works was the Bus Riders series in 1976 in which we could see the artist herself in different positions, like if she was in a bus. Here some examples of this series:

cindy-sherman-untitled-busriders-1976

Cindy-sherman-untitled-bus-riders-1976

On the Untitled series, several portraits in which the artist shown herself in different roles, wearing different makeup, dresses and hair. Most of them bring a strong critics on the American society and the way women are represented in the popular culture.

cindy-sherman-untitled-477-2008

cindy-sherman-untitled-464-2008

Out of this portrait works, she did in 1981 one portrait that would become in 2010 one of the most expensive photographs in history, thanks to a Christie’s auction. Cindy Sherman’s “Untitled #96” from 1981 passed all records for photography, and was sold for $3.89 million. According to ArtInfo.com, the buyer was New York dealer Philippe Segalot, and the underbidder was Per Skarstedt, also a New York dealer. Christie’s confirmed that this was a record for a photograph at auction, previously held by Andreas Gursky’s “99 Cent II Diptychon,” which fetched $3.35 million in 2006. Sherman recently had another high profile sale, with her work “Untitled #153,” from 1985 reaching $2.7 million in late 2010.

Cindy-Sherman-Untitled-96-1981
Untitled #96, 1981

In the past years she also worked for the fashion and beauty industry with a very creative, almost intellectual work (versus standard advertising). In 2006, she collaborated with Marc Jacobs and Juergen Teller for a series of fashion campaigns on Marc Jacobs brand:

cindy-sherman-marc-jacobs

In 2011, She did an amazing series of photographs for M.A.C. for its Fall collection. A limited edition for crazy fashionistas:

cindy-sherman-fo-MAC

The Exhibition will start next week, on the 26th of February. The exhibition is organized by Eva Respini, Associate Curator, with Lucy Gallun, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Photography. Major support for the exhibition is provided by Agnes Gund, Jerry I. Speyer and Katherine G. Farley, The Modern Women’s Fund, and The William Randolph Hearst Endowment Fund. Additional funding is provided by The Broad Art Foundation, David Dechman and Michel Mercure, Robert B. Menschel, Allison and Neil Rubler, Richard and Laura Salomon, The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, Glenstone, Michèle Gerber Klein, Richard and Heidi Rieger, Ann and Mel Schaffer, and The Junior Associates of The Museum of Modern Art.

The Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53 Street  New York, NY 10019 USA
The Joan and Preston Robert Tisch Exhibition Gallery, sixth floor.

I recommend to discover this major artist as her influence can be seen through all the contemporary art works and fashion photographs.
LA

 

Info sourced at MoMA official website, wikipedia and artist website. All images are copyrighted, no reproduction rights available.