Cindy Sherman was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey in 1954. She is the youngest of five children and grew up in Huntington, Long Island. None of Sherman’s parents or siblings were involved in the arts. Her father worked as an engineer, and her mother was a reading teacher. Both of Sherman’s parents were supportive when she became interested in art. She began exploring more in depth at State University College at Buffalo. In 1977, Sherman began to use herself in photographs to portray different actresses. These photographs were known as the Untitled Film Stills. They were often confused by people to be self portraits of Cindy Sherman. That was not Sherman’s intentions though, she titled these photographs “Untitled”, with a different number on each. (Sherman)
Cindy Sherman’s photographs range from portraits of herself portrayed as actresses to her in a clown attire. She uses simple materials for instance a camera, makeup, wig, hats, and an outfit. The people that she chooses to portray in her photographs are usually people with complex lives lived out of fame. Sherman does not title any of her photographs. She wants to leave it up to the viewer to make what they want of her art and see what they want to see in it. Sherman never reveals the actual people she gets her ideas from, she just appears as that person in the photograph and lets the viewer make their own opinions of the piece. (Art21)
Sherman took painting classes in college, but then realized she was not interested in painting and rather use a camera and capture the ideas she came up with. She started her career in New York City, with the Untitled Film Stills. Sherman had to shop for herself since she was the model in her photographs. When Cindy Sherman was interviewed she says “I do something that’s fun for me, dressing up as characters, but than that was too easy, now I have to do something really hard” (Youtube). She mostly played female roles with an exception of few male roles. From 1977-1980 Sherman did black and white photographs, which resembled the publicity stills from 1950s B movies. After she finished Film Stills, she started to do more colored photographs. (Encyclopedia)
The Museum of Modern Art will soon have Cindy Sherman’s photographs in it. Museum goers are interested in Sherman’s work and want to see a preview of whats to come. Dr. Silver states “She is right there with a foot in both camps. When you are that kind of artist, you have an amazing power to talk to the world” (The New York Times). Some reviewers believe Sherman is the least criticized, best known and most influential since Bruce Nauman. (New York Magazine)
Personally I became a fan of Cindy Sherman’s when I saw her piece “Untitled #412”. It’s intriguing to see a photograph that looks absolutely nothing like Sherman, but she is underneath the costumes. There are not many artists that can do what she does, and come up with the ideas that she thinks of. Sherman can go from being portrayed as a 20 year old woman in some photographs to a 90 year old lady in others. The only visible part of Sherman in her photographs that is not covered with costume is her eyes. This assignment was not as tough as I thought it would be, but yet another learning experience for me.
Leo Tolstoy and Cindy Sherman
According to Leo Tolstoy in the essay "What Is Art," art should be based on emotions that one feels. Art for Tolstoy is what a person feels, for instance, sad, happy, afraid, sympathy or eccentric. When one looks at the art, they should have some sort of emotional connection to the piece that they are starring into. It’s not art unless you can relate to it in some way. I believe that Cindy Sherman's art work fulfills Tolstoy's idea of art.
Sherman's "Untitled #412" evokes a lot of different emotions. Which is what Tolstoy says art should do. He writes, "to evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then, by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds, or forms expressed in words, so to transmit that feeling that others may experience the same feeling" (10). This piece of her with a clown face and a colorful background is somewhat confusing. It is creepy, but it is also calming with the wavy background. The photograph can almost have you hypnotized if starred at for too long.
Also Cindy Sherman’s “Untitled #48” makes you want to go to the destination in which the photograph was taken. It gives off a peaceful vibe. Tolstoy talks about what most people believe art to be. He writes, “we are accustomed to understand art to be only what we hear and see in theaters, concerts, and exhibitions, together with buildings, statues, poems, novels” (17). There is much more other types of art that does not enter our minds when we hear the word art. I haven’t heard of Cindy Sherman until I started this project, and there is a lot of other artists that are out there and I don’t hear much about. Sherman is a great example of the style she uses in her photographs.
Another one of Sherman’s photographs “Untitled #250” makes you want to vomit. It is to revealing, and it looks like an old guy with girl genitals. I wouldn’t say that this is nearly my favorite out of Sherman’s photographs, but it sure is unique. “Untitled #250” evokes too many emotions to even bare. It is frightening, disgusting, and can’t even try to make sense of it. Not all of Sherman’s art is like this, most of them are woman dressed up and fancy jewelry. Tolstoy would agree that Cindy Sherman’s art work sure does make you feel something whether it be sad, happy, unbearable, or whatever you feel when starring at her photography.
Sherman's "Untitled #412" evokes a lot of different emotions. Which is what Tolstoy says art should do. He writes, "to evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then, by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds, or forms expressed in words, so to transmit that feeling that others may experience the same feeling" (10). This piece of her with a clown face and a colorful background is somewhat confusing. It is creepy, but it is also calming with the wavy background. The photograph can almost have you hypnotized if starred at for too long.
Also Cindy Sherman’s “Untitled #48” makes you want to go to the destination in which the photograph was taken. It gives off a peaceful vibe. Tolstoy talks about what most people believe art to be. He writes, “we are accustomed to understand art to be only what we hear and see in theaters, concerts, and exhibitions, together with buildings, statues, poems, novels” (17). There is much more other types of art that does not enter our minds when we hear the word art. I haven’t heard of Cindy Sherman until I started this project, and there is a lot of other artists that are out there and I don’t hear much about. Sherman is a great example of the style she uses in her photographs.
Another one of Sherman’s photographs “Untitled #250” makes you want to vomit. It is to revealing, and it looks like an old guy with girl genitals. I wouldn’t say that this is nearly my favorite out of Sherman’s photographs, but it sure is unique. “Untitled #250” evokes too many emotions to even bare. It is frightening, disgusting, and can’t even try to make sense of it. Not all of Sherman’s art is like this, most of them are woman dressed up and fancy jewelry. Tolstoy would agree that Cindy Sherman’s art work sure does make you feel something whether it be sad, happy, unbearable, or whatever you feel when starring at her photography.
No comments:
Post a Comment