Modern American artist Cindy Sherman: biography, creativity

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The contemporary art world is full of diversity and creativity. The goals pursued by the artists who create their work are completely different. One thing is clear: everyone strives to bring something new. Someone wants to show their feelings with the help of art, someone wants to give the world a drop of good. Cindy Sherman has become one of those artists who break stereotypes. She makes fun of modern customs and rules, and for this she is loved.

Birth

Cindy Sherman was born in 1954. On March 19, the baby was born in the city of Glen Ridge in the state of New Jersey (a suburb of New York). Immediately after her birth, the family moved to Huntington, Long Island. There are five children in her family. Parents had nothing to do with art. Father is an engineer and mother is a teacher.

Childhood

Cindy Sherman's biography begins in a large family. The girl in her became the fifth and last child, although at that time two children were already independent and preferred to live separately. The father often showed his strict disposition, and then the mother had to protect them. One of the older brothers, Cindy Sherman Frank, at the age of 27, committed suicide due to failures in his personal life. The guy could not find his place in the sun, andthis led to a deep depression.

From an early age, the girl loved to change her looks. She dressed up in different clothes that were left from her grandmother, changed hairstyles and painted. She was not interested in the images of princesses and queens, like other peers, she dressed up in old ladies, witches and monsters. In addition, Cindy could draw, which subsequently left an imprint on her life.

School life

Cindy Sherman's family did not have sufficient funds to educate children, so in 1972 the girl decided to go to University College at Buffalo. There she took up painting, but after a while she realized that she was not interested in copying other people's works, she wanted to do something of her own, special. Cindy realized that the camera would be able to copy the image much better than her, so she gradually switched to photography. This gave her much more room for inspiration and new ideas. In 1977, she graduated from the university and received her diploma.

Creativity

Immediately after graduation, the girl begins to bring her ideas to life and starts working on a new project. It was called Un titled Film Stills, which means "Stills from un titled films." A series of her black and white photographs was published in 1980 and consisted of 69 photographs. Cindy herself acted as a model, dresser, make-up artist and photographer all rolled into one. In 1980, the girl stopped working on this project, because at that time it seemed to her that the personnel had exhausted themselves.

She began to be invited to variousexhibitions, but Sherman was depressed by the fact that it practically did not bring any income. Other artists received exactly the same press coverage as her, but their earnings were much higher. That same year, Cindy decides to work in color and large format. Her second project caused a mixed reaction. The pictures showed vomit and other "nasty" things, but people bought her work.

In 1990, a new project of the artist appeared under the name History Portraits/Old Masters (“Historical portraits/Old masters”). During the creation of a series of photographs, the artist was in Rome, but she basically did not go to museums or churches. She created her works, relying solely on reproductions from books. And it finally brought her income. Sherman herself believes that this happened because the audience no longer wanted to look at "modern art", they wanted something more soulful and warm.

Her next work was called Sex Pictures ("Sexy Pictures"). To create it, the artist specially ordered male and female medical mannequins. Since the genitals were not too different in beauty, the girl had to fix everything. In this she was helped by painting lessons. She glued on pubic hair and painted mannequins in different colors. Sherman has been drawn to things that disgust her since childhood, and in this work her main task was to find out why she feels such an attraction.

She continues to explore this question in her new work Civil War("Civil War"). The whole project is riddled with cruelty, violence and pieces of human rotting meat. This made the artist understand that, to some extent, she was attracted to the theme of death.

In the 1990s, she tries herself as a director. Her film called Office Killer did not bring popularity, but it cannot be called bad, because this work includes several genres at once: comedy, horror and thriller. All in the spirit of Cindy Sherman.

A little later, the woman decides to return to her roots and releases a series of pictures of aging actresses. The new project refers to her "Stills from films without a title", where young and pretty girls have already lost their former vitality, they fade, but still retain some charm and intrigue. After that, the artist tries herself in the image of a clown. The pictures turned out to be more sad and aggressive than funny. In 2000, the artist released a new project, which showed all the pomposity of Hollywood. Too much makeup and silicone.

The artist herself admits that she has always been very modest, which is why sometimes she wanted to be a different person. For all her costumes, wigs and false body parts, a woman follows very carefully. They are neatly arranged in several cabinets.

Features of creativity

The first photos of Cindy Sherman are more like shots from life, accidentally captured on camera. She never chooses a certain person whom she would like to show in her works, she chooses a certain type that interested her. All characterswhom she portrayed are fictitious. The artist shoots herself and only in rare cases asks someone to help her. She does not bother looking for models for her projects. Cindy tried to photograph friends and relatives, and even once hired an assistant for herself, but she could not work with any of them, because she herself did not know what she really wanted to see in her photographs. The girl simply could not explain what she needed. For them it was all fun, but for Cindy it was work.

Most often she depicts women from different walks of life: a business woman, a prostitute, a housewife, a simple girl, a librarian or a passionate independent woman. Her work does not leave anyone indifferent. They are full of drama, scandalous and even provocative mood, black humor. Cindy shows modern people hiding their feelings deep inside, but on the outside - fake smiles and grimaces.

Feminism at work

In her works, photographer Cindy Sherman showed female images: a girl who hitchhikes, a sobbing drunk woman, an office worker, a child in the city, an abandoned lover. Of course, critics saw feminist motifs in the photographs. Her designs show the fake. Thus, the woman tried to show all the pomposity of female roles and sometimes unnatural behavior in the society of the fairer sex. Unlike other photographers, Cindy has always claimed that the camera lies. Her creative view of the world and environment is like a sermon in a modernart. This is how she feels what is happening around her.

After she received a new commission from Artforum magazine, her feminist images stirred everyone around. They looked like a parody of pictures from pornographic magazines, only the heroines did not look exciting at all, on the contrary, they seemed sad and tired. Thus, contemporary American artist Cindy Sherman wanted to show how girls feel under the tireless male gaze. How hard it is to live in a society where the main role is still played by men.

Computer processing

When creating her work, Sherman has to resort to computer processing. Since most often she is filmed in the studio, with the help of computer programs she finishes the background. The artist resorts to this method to make the image more false and ostentatious.

Exhibitions

Immediately after the publication of her first serious work - "Stills from films without a title" - success comes to the girl. Now the crowd is repeating one name: Cindy Sherman is an artist. She has participated in several international exhibitions, one of which was the Venice Biennale. This exhibition is very honorable for artists. After 5 years, her work was exhibited at the famous Whitney Museum of American Art.

In 2012, the New York Museum of Modern Art held a major exhibition of the artist's work, which was dedicated to the 35th anniversary of her career.

Unlike many other artists, Cindy does not betray old friends, and her photographs still represent the newYork Metro Pictures, which once exhibited her first works within its walls.

Private life

In 1984, Cindy Sherman married French director Michel Auder. From this marriage, the artist has no children, although she raised her daughter Michel. Then they divorced. Cindy was in a relationship with talented artist David Byrne from 2007 to 2011.

Career

In the 1980s, the young artist's work gained worldwide popularity, and in 1995, the New York Museum of Modern Art purchased the entire series of Un titled Film Stills for $1,000,000, after some time one of her photographs was sold for $190,000. In 1997, the famous singer Madonna sponsored her exhibition "Stills from Un titled Films".

Of course, we can say that the icon that sets the style in art has become Cindy Sherman. The rating of her work is very high. In the list of "the most influential people in the art world" she is in 7th place. She has reached great heights in her career. Not every artist can boast that his work - both old and new - is in great demand. At the moment, Cindy Sherman is the most famous and influential artist in the world. None of her photographs sell for less than $50,000. However, admirers of Cindy Sherman's work often want a complete set of her work.

Auction

Cindy Sherman's annual income from sales of her work at auctions between 2000 and 2006 ranges from $1.5 million to $2.8 million. In 2007, it increased to $8.9 million. Photo Sherman "Without title 96" (1981) was auctioned for $3,890,500.

This work was on the list of the most expensive photographs. It depicts a cute girl lying on the floor, holding a piece of newspaper with a dating ad in her hand. Sherman put deep meaning into her work. An innocent girl, so lonely and so seductive, and this paper with an announcement of an acquaintance, they say that the girlish essence, not yet fully strengthened, wants to break free and go on an adventure.