Pimore than a hundred of his works Cindy Sherman displayed under the title “Cindy Sherman in Cycladic: First Acts» at the Museum of Cycladic Art, in Megaro Statthatou, from today, May 30 TO November 4, 2024. It’s about her first museums exhibit with the photographic works of the famous American artist in Greece. It is held with the main sponsor Rolex.
Cindy Sherman’s practice, which operates between picture and displayestablished him as a pioneer of the medium by the end of its decade 1970. The artist works alone in the studio, playing the role of make-up artist, hairdresser, stylist and director himself as he transforms into the various fictional characters he captures in his photographs. Drawing inspiration from copying female images and stereotypes from television, film and advertising, such as the femme fatale, career girl, housewife, her works criticize traditional gender roles and identities.
It is presented in the exhibition unabridged the series of seventy black and white photographs”Untitled Movie Modes” (1977-1980), which Sherman started when he moved to New York at the age of twenty-three. Draw inspiration from Hollywood in the 1950s and 1960s, film noirs, B movies, and the films of independent European cinema, Sherman created images reminiscent of the style of shots used by film studios to promote their films. These images refer to specific types of characters and become a starting point for discussion about gender roles, feminism and representation, while remaining deliberately ambiguous and open to different interpretations.
In 1980 Sherman returned to color photography, creating a series known as “Rear Screen Projections»(1980). In these works, where he poses in front of locations projected on a large screen, he continues his artistic dialogue with cinema by using the technique often used in Alfred Hitchcock, which gives him more control over the final result. The photos in question were created entirely by the studio, with himself still in the role of the model, and strongly show the element of artifice, blurring the boundaries of reality and leaving the narrative of the scenes deliberately not obviously.
A year ago the art magazine Artforum He was commissioned to create new images – an invitation that led to the photo series “Centerfolds» (1981). With clear references to the erotic images commonly found in men’s magazines at the time, Sherman challenges the widespread way images are consumed, especially those depicting women, by focusing on the voyeuristic the viewer’s view. The magazine never published the specific photos, fearing the reactions of public opinion. But these pictures are one of his most famous series of works.
The line “Color Studies»(1981-1982), finally, includes large-scale vertical works, where his experimentation with color and shadow becomes evident. Sherman continues to photograph himself looking directly into the camera and by extension the viewer. In this case too, these are created images that bring forward the fragile boundaries between what is real and what is artificial, covering and revealing the subjects of the shots through shadow and light.
Throughout the exhibition, a twenty minute clip about Cindy Sherman from the film entitled “Renewal”, a production of his Art21 2009a review of selected works by him and his creative process over forty years.
INFORMATION
“Cindy Sherman in Cycladic: Early works”, 30 May 2024 to 4 November 2024, Museum of Cycladic Art, Megaro Stathatou, 1 Vasilissis Sofias & Herodotou, 106 74, Athens, tel.: 210 7228321-3, www.cycladic.gr. Ticket price: €16 & €12 reduced. Guided tour ticket: €19 & €15 reduced. Tour ticket available electronic only. Guided tours for the public: From 13/6 and every Thursday, 13:00 guided tour in English, 18:00 guided tour in Greek. Up to 20 people per tour. Opening hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday: 10:00-17:00, Thursday: 10:00-20:00, Sunday: 11:00-17:00, Tuesday: Closed.