Cindy Sherman

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Cindy Sherman

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Cindy Sherman (Cynthia Morris Sherman), 1954-, American photographer, b. Glen Ridge, N.J. In images in which makeup, costumes, wigs, and the like allow her to take on a variety of guises and roles, Sherman transforms still photography into performance art to explore traditional and pop-cultural myths of femininity. Her work implicitly examines issues of identity and stereotype, representation and reality, the function of mass media, and the nature of portraiture. Untitled Film Stills (1977-80) is a widely acclaimed series of 69 black-and-white works in which she assumed the identities of stock characters from Hollywood B films. A set was acquired (1996) by New York's Museum of Modern Art, which published them in 2003. Turning to color in the 1980s, Sherman continued to use herself as subject matter, sometimes also photographing mannequins or dolls. Her more recent themes have included erotica, mutilation, and decay; her personae, overblown movie divas and characters from grotesque fairy tales and ersatz Old Master paintings. Sherman also has directed a feature film, the black comedy Office Killer (1997).

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Sherman, Cindy

The Oxford Dictionary of Art | 2004 | | © The Oxford Dictionary of Art 2004, originally published by Oxford University Press 2004. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Sherman, Cindy. See photo-work.

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IAN CHILVERS. "Sherman, Cindy." The Oxford Dictionary of Art. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 19 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

IAN CHILVERS. "Sherman, Cindy." The Oxford Dictionary of Art. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (December 19, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O2-ShermanCindy.html

IAN CHILVERS. "Sherman, Cindy." The Oxford Dictionary of Art. 2004. Retrieved December 19, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O2-ShermanCindy.html

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Sherman, Cindy

A Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art | 1999 | | © A Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art 1999, originally published by Oxford University Press 1999. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Sherman, Cindy. See PHOTO-WORK.

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IAN CHILVERS. "Sherman, Cindy." A Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (December 19, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O5-ShermanCindy.html

IAN CHILVERS. "Sherman, Cindy." A Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art. 1999. Retrieved December 19, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O5-ShermanCindy.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

Free Article Cindy Sherman at the Montclair Art Museum.(photographic exhibition)
Magazine article from: Art in America; 4/1/2005
Free Article Cindy Sherman: burning down the house. (on the works of Cindy Sherman)
Magazine article from: Artforum International; 1/1/1993
Free Article Le choix de Cindy : mourir de rien ou perir d'ennui.(Paris)(Cindy Sherman, Jeu de Paume)(Critical essay)
Magazine article from: Etc. Montreal; 3/1/2007

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Related articles from newspapers, magazines, and more

Cindy Sherman at the Montclair Art Museum.(photographic exhibition)
Magazine article from: Art in America; 4/1/2005; ; 700+ words ; ...loomed so large since the 1980s, Cindy Sherman's performative self-portraits...surprisingly mundane origin. In 1975, Sherman was an undergraduate at Buffalo State...Sherman's early work. "The Unseen Cindy Sherman: Early Transformations...
Cindy Sherman
Magazine article from: Artforum; 2/1/2009; ; 700+ words ; NEW YORK Cindy Sherman METRO PICTURES Looking at Cindy Sherman's recent photos, I thought, eventually, of what...no matter how totalizing and convincing, is ultimately Cindy. She has chosen whom to imitate, or, in a handful of photos...
Cindy Sherman. (Whitney Museum, New York)
Magazine article from: The Nation; 8/15/1987; ; 700+ words ; Though the works of Cindy Sherman must be classed as photographs, and...Liberty. The knowledge that they are of Cindy Sherman penetrates our experience and...smiling brightly. Told that it is Cindy Sherman and by Cindy Sherman, one would...
Sherman's mass appeal. (contemporary still-photo, visual artist Cindy Sherman)
Magazine article from: Afterimage; 11/1/1997; ; 700+ words ; ...published an image of Madonna and Cindy Sherman. This photograph's function was...visual artist at the June opening of Sherman's show at the Museum of Modern...actress Madonna sponsored photographer Cindy Sherman's exhibit of self-portraits...
Cindy Sherman: burning down the house. (on the works of Cindy Sherman)
Magazine article from: Artforum International; 1/1/1993; ; 700+ words ; Consider the many genres Cindy Sherman has developed in her photographs...of representation. Consistently, Sherman's photography is positioned in...entrenched resistance to the idea that Sherman's motifs and thematics are embedded...
A portrait of the artist; ... as a young woman, a gangster's moll, a clown, or the Madonna. Cindy Sherman has spent 30 years photographing herself in a variety of guises, and now, ahead of a major Scottish exhibition, she gives a rare interview and an even rarer glimpse into the real woman behind the studied pose
Newspaper article from: The Sunday Herald; 11/30/2003; ; 700+ words ; MEETING Cindy Sherman for the first time is a bit like seeing Kiss without...enviably spacious New York loft, I have no idea what Cindy Sherman looks like as herself. The answer is that Cindy Sherman looks like Cindy Sherman, with a parrot on...
REDISCOVERED: CINDY SHERMAN'S CELLULOID WORLD.(Interview)
Magazine article from: WWD; 9/24/2003; ; 700+ words ; NEW YORK -- Cindy Sherman answers the door of her apartment wearing...back into a ponytail. Petite and fit, Sherman almost looks like she could be a suburban...praised photographers of her generation, Sherman is known for her portraits, which can...
A mistress of disguise Cindy Sherman's self-portraits reveal an inclination for impersonation
Newspaper article from: The Sunday Telegraph London; 5/17/2009; ; 700+ words ; Cindy Sherman ????? Spruth Magers, London W1 (020...coincidence, this month sees new shows from both Cindy Sherman and Sherrie Levine. As upstart...fans have been gagging to know who the real Cindy Sherman is, and how far she can be identified...
art Cindy Sherman.
Newspaper article from: The Evening Standard (London, England); 6/12/2003; ; 700+ words ; Byline: BRIAN SEWELL Cindy Sherman Serpentine Gallery Kensington Gardens, W2 (020-7402 6075...where it has some kinship with the basic principles of painting. Cindy Sherman takes this kinship further, for she is a photographer who has...
Cindy Sherman's Moving Pictures; 'Film Stills': The Artist's Most Memorable Roles
Newspaper article from: The Washington Post; 4/2/1995; ; 700+ words ; Cindy Sherman's "Film Stills," those acted-out...suggestive chunks of the history of art. Sherman is the heiress, miserable but rich, smoking...auteur, femme fatale and victim -- made Cindy Sherman famous. She was a kid just out...
Click to see an enlarged picture
Cindy Sherman. (Image by Flickr user lomalakamera, CC)

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