PHOTO:Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman’s own image is at the centre of an inspiring array of character studies, developed over decades. Sherman gained international recognition in the ‘70s for inhabiting female tropes found in the mass media. In the last 15 years, Sherman has transitioned from film to digital photography. This exhibition presents an insight into the artist’s growing confidence in using digital software to manipulate and embellish her photographs.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: QAGOMA Archive

The 55 large-scale photographs, and the imposing mural installation at the centre of the exhibition, present the artist’s perspective on the synthetic aspects of image culture and the constructed nature of identity. By bringing these concerns together, Cindy Sherman creates photographs that embody a prescient response to contemporary society. After working predominately with mannequins, dolls and props for many years, Cindy Sherman returned as the model for her series “Head shots” (2000-02). Simply composed with a seated figure shot from mid-waist against a plain backdrop, these photographs of aspirational models and actors are reminiscent of those lining the walls of talent agencies. The “glow of Hollywood” in the background of “Untitled #408” and “Untitled #409” marks the artist’s first foray into digital technology. Following the “Head shots”, Cindy Sherman travelled further into the realm of character types to create the “Clowns” series (2003-04). Sherman uses facial expressions and body language to give these roles an emotional register, and amongst others on display in this room are the sad, the menacing and the hysterical. In this series, the artist also uses digital technology to create abstract backgrounds in order to externalise and magnify the more sinister psychological elements of these clown characters: “I wanted to give the impression of a background that could only be found in your head – or in their heads”. The imposing “Murals” series (2010) works are five metres high and applied directly onto gallery walls, this allowed Cindy Sherman to work with the scale of the museum. The women in this work appear to float in front of the landscape, as if they are alienated from everyday reality. Shooting the background image in New York’s Central Park, the artist used a digital filter mimicking historical engravings or toile de Jouy, a printed cotton or linen renowned for depicting pastoral scenes. The series “Balenciaga” (2007-8), originated with a commission for the French edition of Vogue magazine, in which Cindy Sherman wore outfits designed by Nicolas Ghesquière for fashion house Balenciaga. The series of photographs “Chanel” (2010-12) emerged from a commission for POP magazine (later renamed Garage). For the project, Cindy Sherman embraced the longstanding invitation from fashion house Chanel to use their archive. Although the “Society portraits” were made before the 2008 global financial crisis, Cindy Sherman has succinctly captured the excess and hollowness of the boom in these images. The lavish backgrounds shot in New York locations, project a sense of old-world sophistication, while the circulation-improving pantihose and too-thickly applied make-up belie the facade. In her most recent series “New York” (2016), Cindy Sherman takes early Hollywood as her muse. The feathers and sequins point to the excesses of the Roaring Twenties, while the characters’ faces display the languor of Depression-era Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich. Their wistful looks and lined faces hint at a well-lived life, full of love and loss. Comparisons have been made between the 1929 and 2008 financial crises, and while the ‘society portraits’ represent the high point of the bubble, these photographs reflect the crash.The backdrops in these images have been digitally manipulated to create shadows and blurs so that they recede behind the figures. Printed directly onto metal, these works emulate the glossy finish of backdrops painted onto glass used by Hollywood studios to depict locations either out of the studio’s reach or not of this world.

Info: Curator: Ellie Buttrose, Queensland Art Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), Stanley Place, Cultural Precinct, South Bank, Brisbane, Queensland, Duration: 28/5-3/10/16, Days & Hours: Daily 10:00-17:00, www.qagoma.qld.gov.au