PHOTO:The Cindy Sherman Effect

The exhibition “The Cindy Sherman Effect. Identity and Transformation in Contemporary Art”, addresses one of the key issues in art: the preoccupation with themes of identity, its construction, forms of transformation and fiction are hot topics in the face of a world that is in constant flux through increasing globalisation. At the same time, new technologies such as the Internet, gene manipulation and cloning give cause for us to consider the concept of identity in terms of subject generation and definition.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien

Cindy Sherman’s work is counted among the classics of performance photography and artistic role play; starting out from this base, the exhibition “The Cindy Sherman Effect. Identity and Transformation in Contemporary Art” casts  light on these relevant questions pertaining to the theme of Identity. Sherman’s photographic works,  developed out of 1970s performance art and her specific interest in ever-changing identities, has never ceased to be a formative stylistic influence down to the immediate present. Also, the exhibition juxtaposes works by Cindy Sherman with those of contemporary artists in order to focus on such themes as deconstruction of the portrait, cultural, gender-specific and sexual stereotypes, also the construction and fiction of identity. The discussion surrounding post-structuralism not least paved the way to a reorganisation of authorship, which was trod later by many artists of postmodernism – prepared first and foremost by Andy Warhol with his Factory as a collective production site. With her first important series, the “Untitled Film Stills” (1977-1980), Cindy Sherman, icon of 1980s art production, demonstrated the rupture early on between authentic self-imaging and -performance by confronting the observer with the paradox of a strategy of denial.   The camera is used as a mirror or stage for performances of the self  in order to examine and deconstruct the imaged interpretation of both social and sexual identity. Samuel Fosso is a Cameroonian photographer who has worked for most of his career in the Central African Republic. His work includes using self-portraits adopting a series of personas, often commenting on the history of Africa. He is recognized as one of Central-Africa’s leading contemporary artists. Candice Breitz is an artist whose moving image installations have been shown internationally. Throughout her career, she has explored the dynamics by means of which an individual becomes him or herself in relation to a larger community, be that community the immediate community that one encounters in family, or the real and imagined communities that are shaped not only by questions of national belonging, race, gender and religion, but also by the increasingly undeniable influence of mainstream media such as television, cinema and popular culture. Most recently, Breitz’s work has focused on the conditions under which empathy is produced, reflecting on a media-saturated global culture in which strong identification with fictional characters and celebrity figures runs parallel to widespread indifference to the plight of those facing real world adversity. Working across mediums and disciplines, Douglas Gordon investigates moral and ethical questions, mental and physical states, as well as collective memory and selfhood. Using literature, folklore, and iconic Hollywood films in addition to his own footage, drawings, and writings, he distorts time and language in order to disorient and challenge. Gordon is known for redefining expectations for the moving image and the relationship between sound, text, image, and the human portrait; consider, for example, “24 Hour Psycho” (1993), his video installation that stretched the duration of Hitchcock’s “Psycho” (1960) from 109 minutes to twenty-four hours by projecting two frames per second instead of twenty-four. By contrast, telling the story of Mekas, the founder of Anthology Film Archives, in New York, means to reflect on the history of avant-garde cinema in which Mekas is a key figure, and introduce Gordon’s own aesthetic decisions to its imperatives—the rejection of linear narrative, persistent sound/image correspondence, suppressing the darkness that lies between the frames. As such, the work reflects the historical position of Gordon’s own oeuvre. Catherine Opie is known for her powerfully dynamic photography that examines the ideals and norms surrounding the culturally constructed American dream and American identity. She first gained recognition in the 1990s for her series of studio portraits titled Being and Having, in which she photographed gay, lesbian, and transgender individuals drawn from her circle of friends and artists. Opie has traveled extensively across the country exploring the diversity of America’s communities and landscapes, documenting quintessential American subjects— high school football players and the 2008 presidential inauguration—while also continuing to display America’s subcultures through formal portraits.  Julian Rosefeldt’s work reflects the artist’s fascination with day-to-day reality, and the stereotypes, clichés and mindless repetitions that suffuse popular culture. Since the mid-1990s Rosefeldt has been producing complex film and video installations, as well as photographs, through which we can observe from a cool, detached perspective the formulaic imagery and content that is generated by contemporary media. Gavin Turk is has pioneered many forms of contemporary British sculpture now taken for granted, including the painted bronze, the waxwork, the recycled art-historical icon and the use of rubbish in art. Turk’s installations and sculptures deal with issues of authorship, authenticity and identityIn 1991, the Royal College of Art refused Turk a degree on the basis that his final show, “Cave”, consisted of a whitewashed studio space containing only a blue heritage plaque commemorating his presence “Gavin Turk worked here 1989-91”. Instantly gaining notoriety through this installation, he has since been exhibited by many major galleries and museums throughout the world. Sophie Calle has exhibited extensively throughout the world since the late 1970s. Variously described as a conceptual artist, a photographer, a movie director, and even a detective, she has developed a practice that is instantly recognizable for its distinct narrative elements and frequent combination of images with text. Each of her projects can be seen as a chapter in a vast overall volume of references and echoes, in which Calle often blurs the boundaries between the intimate and the public, reality and fiction, art and life. Her work methodically orchestrates an unveiling of reality—her own and that of others—while allocating a controlled part of this reality to chance. Eva Schlegel works in many different media: photography, objects, installations, glass and lead. Some of her most characteristic works are her black and white photographs, transformed from negative and positive film and then transferred onto lead plates in such a way that they almost seem varnished in blue and green nuances. The chromatic light depends on the quality of the lead, which the artist selects with great care. The photographs from which the lead works are created are often taken by the artist herself, including self-portraits. In other cases the photographs are found amongst discarded materials in the photographic laboratory. Eva Schlegel’s work appears conceptual and aesthetic as well as intellectual and sensuous.

Participating artists: Monica Bonvicini, Candice Breitz, Sophie Calle, Samuel Fosso, Douglas Gordon, Martine Gutierrez, Elke Silvia Krystufek, Sarah Lucas, Maleonn, Zanele Muholi, Catherine Opie, Pipilotti Rist, Julian Rosefeldt, Markus Schinwald, Eva Schlegel, Tejal Shah, Cindy Sherman, Fiona Tan, Ryan Trecartin, Wu Tsang, Gavin Turk and Gillian Wearing.

Info: Curator: Bettina M. Busse, Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien, Freyung 8, Vienna, Duration: 29/1-21/6/20, Days & Hours: Daily 10:00-19:00, www.kunstforumwien.at