Cindy Sherman: The Ultimate Chameleon

It’s safe to say I am obsessed with the work of Cindy Sherman. She is truly talented and I really respect the career she has built over the past 35 years. Her creativity and imagination astounds me. I saw her retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) this weekend and although it was a little sparser than I expected, I enjoyed the MOMA’s display of her work. According to a New York Times article, the MOMA rightly described her work as “the unchallenged cornerstone of postmodern photography.”

I’ve always had a thing for playing dress up and make believe…and Cindy has made a living killing doing just that and then photographing herself often perfectly capturing the emotion and personality of the subject. You immediately want to know the story behind the subject at hand…what’s behind that fierce grin or those longing eyes? I don’t even know how Cindy comes up with all of the different personas she becomes, but besides that she executes just as impressively…they are so super believable. Something I learned this weekend is that she shoots everything in her studio where she projects different backgrounds (cityscapes, courtyards, office buildings, etc.). It was also cool to learn more about the progression of her work. She first became famous decades ago for doing a series of black and white portraits. Then she got into the heavy-duty costumes in which she has mocked the PR moguls and actress wanna-bes, she has glorified the victimized androgynous types, she has taken the viewer back in time by recounting many historical moments while also poking fun, she has even shown us her perverted side and apparent preoccupation with clowns. I don’t show any of the later two because, well, neither are really my thang.

The MOMA exhibit ends in May, so go see it now!