Cindy Sherman
(Born 1954)
Cindy Sherman was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey in 1954. She graduated from Buffalo State College in New York in 1976. Early on, Sherman established photography as her primary medium of expression. She is widely known for her self-reflexive photographs and films in which she impersonates a wide variety of characters. In general, her photographs are a commentary on the female condition and the stereotypes that confine women’s role within society and culture. One of Sherman’s most famous series is Untitled Film Stills from 1979 shot in black and white, in which she poses as characters reminiscent of Hollywood stars. Later in her career, Sherman introduced color to her work and continued creating series that focused on different themes. Images of sexuality, the perverse, the fantastic and even portraits made in the style of the old masters invite the viewer to interpret uncanny narratives centered around the female gender and the role it plays within our culture.
Cindy Sherman has exhibited extensively throughout the United States and Europe. Solo exhibitions of her work have been held in institutions such as the National Portrait Gallery, London, the Astrup Fearnley Collection, Oslo in 2019, The Broad Museum, Los Angeles in 2016, The Museum of Modern Art, New York in 2012, Jeu de Paume in Paris and Kunsthaus in Bregenz, Austria in 2006, the Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis in 2005 and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh in 2003. She has also participated in exhibitions in major institutions such as the Tate Modern and the Barbican Art Gallery in London, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Sherman has also participated in two Venice Biennales and five Whitney Biennials, and her work has been featured in multiple publications. Cindy Sherman currently lives and works in New York.
