Cindy Sherman: 50 Years of Masquerade

On Saturday, 16 August at 12:30 p.m., we will revisit the theme of self-portraiture and examine the works of Cindy Sherman.

Cindy Sherman (born in 1954 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey) has had a lasting influence on 20th-century art with her photographs. She stages herself in a variety of roles and costumes, often alluding to stereotypical representations of women in film, fashion and advertising. Her work is less a classic self-portrait series aimed at authentic self-revelation and more a critical examination of social role models and their representation in public.

The artist grew up as Cynthia Morris in Huntington, New York, the youngest of five children. Her father, a passionate camera collector, worked as an engineer and her mother as a teacher. She got her first camera at the age of ten. In the autumn of 1972, she began studying at the Art Department of the State University of New York in Buffalo. Initially interested in painting, drawing and sculpture, she quickly discovered photography as her preferred artistic medium. Many of Cindy Sherman’s photographs question the representation of women in popular culture, challenging stereotypes and preconceived notions about women.

In 1999, ARTnews magazine named her one of the ‘10 Best Living Artists’ (issue 98/11, December 1999).

Cindy Sherman’s photographs are among the most expensive works on the art market in the field of photography. In 2007, one of her works was auctioned at Christie’s for 2.85 million US dollars. In 2012, the Museum of Modern Art in New York held a large-scale exhibition entitled Cindy Sherman: A Retrospective.