An important artist of the Pictures Generation, a group of American artists in the early ’70s who were known for their analysis of media culture, Cindy Sherman creates photographic self-portraits that critique gender and identity. Serving as director, makeup artist, hairstylist, stylist, model, set designer, and photographer, the artist metamorphosizes into complex characters and shoots herself within equally involved scenes.
After attending the State University of New York at Buffalo, Sherman moved to New York in 1976 to pursue a career in photography. Shortly after arriving, she began working on Untitled Film Stills (1977-80), her now-iconic series in which she appears in an array of guises and settings, portraying female stereotypes found within film and the media including the unhappy housewife, the jilted lover, and the vulnerable naif. Since then, she’s continued to transform into a variety of characters, forcing her audience to confront other common stereotypes and their artificiality.
Throughout her career, Sherman has collaborated with a number of fashion brands including Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Balenciaga, and Marc Jacobs, and with fashion magazines including Interview and Harper’s BAZAAR. In 2016, she moonlit as a street style star for a satirical feature in Bazaar’s March issue.
Pictured: Cindy Sherman, Untitled #414, (2003), on display at the National Portrait Galley in central London in 2016.
