Cindy Sherman and David Salle

Published on the occasion of the inaugural exhibition at Skarstedt’s new London gallery, this in-depth catalogue features full-plate images and archival installation views of Cindy Sherman’s History Portraits (1988 – 1990) and David Salle’s Tapestry Paintings (1989 – 1991), as well as an essay by Rudi Fuchs, former Director of the Stedelijk Museum.

Dominant figures in contemporary art, both Cindy Sherman and David Salle were key figures in the influential ‘Pictures Generation’ art movement of the mid 1970s and 80s in New York. Emerging onto the art scene during this media-dominated era, both Sherman and Salle, like many of their contemporaries, drew upon existing imagery as inspiration for their own richly layered work. 

Positioning these bodies of work in dialogue, the exhibition and catalogue explore the shared visual strategies and the performative aspects intrinsic to the artists’ work. Created during the same period, the History Portraits and Tapestry Paintings invite us to reflect on the coincidence of the artists’ shared translation of historical sources at this particular moment of contemporary art history and to contemplate the role played by their chosen mediums of painting and photography.