Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman is one of the most influential artists in contemporary art. Throughout her career, she presented a provocative construction of different identities based off of movies, TV, magazines, internet and art history.  She worked as her own model capturing herself in different personas.  This work is called ''Untitled Film Still #14'' and was made in 1978. During 1977-1980, she took black and white pictures that feature herself in stereotypical Hollywood & European female roles from the 1950s-1960s. I like this picture because when I first saw it, I understood it immediately. I feel like it grasps the concept that a picture is worth a thousand words. I think it takes great artistry to capture an idea in one picture.

Cindy Sherman

This piece by Cindy Sherman is Untitled #13 1979 from her Film Still series. This series is made up of black and white pictures in which Sherman places herself as an unnamed actress in a variety of foreign Hollywood movies. She was very much influenced by the European 50s look, where the women usually had a blank and still look on their faces. I like this piece, because it seems as she portrays a young woman next to set of books in a library as if the book she is picking up is a mystery. Her look can be portrayed as if she is not supposed to be in that section or hiding from someone.

Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman poses as a sad clown for this photography. Sherman changes her identity in each portrait to tell a story. She changes her look by makeup and costumes to make he viewer really look into the picture and try to understand what is really going on. I picked this photo because it is so creepy but interesting at the same time. She wants the viewer to experience humor, sadness and confusion at the same time when they are looking at the picture. 

Cindy Sherman

This is a portrait called, “Untitled #209”, and it is from Cindy Sherman’s “History Portrait Series”. This portrait shows Sherman taking the persona of the Mona Lisa, in an Italian Renaissance style portrait.  She is portraying one of the most famous paintings, Sherman made it her own original work and wanted to ensure distance between the painting and her. Sherman wants the viewers to rethink the familiarity with the original and question how its conventions depict continue to condition the way we do.

Cindy Sherman

I found this picture of Cindy Sherman to be very humorous. It is titled Mrs Claus and was photographed in 1990. To me, it looks like she was caught eating cookies and she wanted to be photographed with the expression of being "caught red handed" I think that the make up (especially her lips), the wig, and the outfit were all done very well. She even made it a point to have the cookie crumbs on her outfit. Also there is an empty glass of what could be thought to have been milk on the table next to her.  She definitely puts her all in her photos, not missing a single detail, and I believe it truly showed.

Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman is a film director and contemporary artist who is known for her conceptual portraits. I think this photo was interesting because it's not completely clear what context she's in. Her face looks like she's afraid but you don't know what she's afraid of. She looks like she's been abused, or maybe she just had an epiphany of some sort. It also looks like it could be still from a "Nightmare on Elm Street" movie. I definitely think a lot of her pieces are pretty creepy because she's trying to be someone else, I'm not really a fan after looking at her pieces. This is really the only one I liked because her emotion seems believable.

Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman is known as one of the most influential people of contemporary art. She is an American photographer and film director from New Jersey who is best known for her conceptual portraits. This image of the four clown is called Untitled #425. It was made in 2004. Sherman began using technology and products like a 'green screen' to help her create some of her works. I find this image a bit disturbing for some reason. It kind of creeps me out because all of the clowns are looking directly at you. Especially the clown in the top left. The one of the right looks a bit happier, but I can almost picture the creepy laugh that he's making. I am not sure if younger children would be a fan of this piece.