Cindy Sherman at Photo Elysée

Comprised of Cindy Sherman’s latest body of work, this exhibition features a series of improbable portraits that exemplify the morphing of self.

Overview

The concept of identity as a construct is a central theme that runs throughout Sherman’s work; in this series the artist renders this notion even more perceptible by splicing together photographs of the individual parts of her own face into a set of collaged images. The result is a series of wholly asymmetric – and therefore seemingly distorted – portraits, depicting entirely new characters that are brought to life in the process.

“I’m disgusted with how people get themselves to look beautiful” stated Sherman in an interview close to forty years ago, “I’m much more fascinated with the other side.” In many respects, this exhibition is the culmination of this sentiment. Drawn from a series of twenty-six “floating creatures,” as the artist has referred to them, these disfigured, and at times disproportionate portraits embody Sherman’s most grotesque work to date. Deliberately printed in a large format, Sherman confronts the viewer with details usually deemed unsightly: wrinkles, contortions, badly applied make-up. By drawing attention to the elements so often smoothed over, Sherman probes our relationship of (un)attractiveness to the construct of self.

Born in 1954 in New Jersey, Cindy Sherman lives and works in New York. She gained international recognition with her series Untitled Film Stills (1977-1980) and in the decades that have followed she has continued to examine themes relating to representation and identity by transforming herself into and photographing herself as an array of characters.