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Which art books, prints and posters are available by and about this artist? Here is a sample of items of interest to a typical collector:
Cindy Sherman, American, b. 1954
Sherman rose to prominence with Untitled Film Stills (1977–80), a landmark series of 69 black-and-white photographs in which the artist captured herself reenacting mid-century pop culture clichés, film noir tropes, and B-movie archetypes about women. Rather than representing true self-portraits, the series serves as a profound critique of the male gaze and the manufactured nature of female identity in mass media. In the years since, the artist, a major figure of the so-called Pictures Generation, has continued to photograph herself in various guises as she examines women’s roles in history and contemporary society.
Her exploration of identity has frequently veered away from traditional cinematic glamour into more unsettling territory. This is epitomized by her rare 2001 photobook Hysteric Two (published in a limited edition of 300 copies by Tokyo's Hysteric Glamour), which documented a series of stark, black-and-white photographs of heavily manipulated sex dolls in provocative poses, invoking the disquieting surrealism of Hans Bellmer.
Sherman’s images range from the beautiful to the grotesque; she’s used elaborate costumes, extensive makeup, and wigs to build her characters and has, in recent years, embraced digital tools to further manipulate her images. This unique approach to performance and attire has made her a natural collaborator for the fashion world. She has developed a long-standing creative relationship with designer Marc Jacobs, beginning with an advertising campaign in 2005. She reunited with Jacobs for the brand's 40th anniversary Spring/Summer 2024 campaign, shot by Juergen Teller in Soho, where she transformed into distinct personas—ranging from a blonde in a tweed two-piece to a grunge brunette in black leather.
Sherman has exhibited in multiple Venice Biennales and Whitney Biennials, and in institutions around the world. She has been awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, and her work regularly sells for seven figures on the secondary market.
This first US printing of Sherman's seminal work made between 1977 and 80 in which the artist posed in the guises of various generic female film characters, among them, ingénue, working girl, vamp, and lonely housewife. Staged to resemble scenes from 1950s and 60s Hollywood, film noir, B movies, and European art-house films, the printed images mimic in format, scale, and quality the often-staged “stills” used to promote films. By photographing herself in such roles, Sherman inserts herself into a dialogue about stereotypical portrayals of women.