Cynthia Morris Sherman was born on 19th January, 1954 in Glen Ridge in New Jersey in the United States. Her artistic style encompasses works such as conceptual self-portraits. She is renowned for her highly disguised self-portraits that comment on social role playing, sexual stereotypes and celebrity. She is a filmmaker and photographer. Several artists have explored the field of photography with the intention of scrutinizing the seriousness of the modern, image dominated era, since the 1970s. Cindy Sherman has joined these ranks by exploring systems of manipulation, of both, photographs in themselves and of photographic subjects. This is done with the intention comment on the manner of the perception and portrayal of women in the modern day society. Sherman grew up in Long Island, New York and was exposed to the 1960s television environment to which she was attracted. She was captivated by makeup and disguise. At first she concentrated on painting at college. Her tutor in photography encouraged Sherman to ‘just take pictures’. This was a turning point that led to her finding the appeal of photography’s instantaneous output more alluring than painting. The photographs she took were frequently black and white. They are by and large self-portraits in positions... show more

Cynthia Morris Sherman was born on 19th January, 1954 in Glen Ridge in New Jersey in the United States. Her artistic style encompasses works such as conceptual self-portraits. She is renowned for her highly disguised self-portraits that comment on social role playing, sexual stereotypes and celebrity. She is a filmmaker and photographer. Several artists have explored the field of photography with the intention of scrutinizing the seriousness of the modern, image dominated era, since the 1970s. Cindy Sherman has joined these ranks by exploring systems of manipulation, of both, photographs in themselves and of photographic subjects. This is done with the intention comment on the manner of the perception and portrayal of women in the modern day society. Sherman grew up in Long Island, New York and was exposed to the 1960s television environment to which she was attracted. She was captivated by makeup and disguise. At first she concentrated on painting at college. Her tutor in photography encouraged Sherman to ‘just take pictures’. This was a turning point that led to her finding the appeal of photography’s instantaneous output more alluring than painting. The photographs she took were frequently black and white. They are by and large self-portraits in positions that comment on clichéd female characterization in the media. She derives these settings and characters from popular culture sources such as old films, magazines and television. Between 1978 and 1980 Sherman took around 130 fake film stills; of these are portraits of herself in the roles of screen icons such as Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren. She was quoted stating that this series was. “about the fakeness of role playing as well as contempt for the domineering 'male' audience who would mistakenly read the images as sexy”. She made huge color prints, focusing on facial expression and lighting during the 1980s. However, she soon concentrated on the perceptions of women, which were accepted in society. Sherman reproduced characters from paintings created by Old Masters in the early 1990s. She did this using prosthetic limbs and makeup in abundance. In order to echo issues such as death, insanity and eating disorders, she featured mutilated bodies to propel the idea. Cynthia Morris Sherman’s works of art include: Untitled Film Still #6 created in 1977 part of the collection at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, U.S.; Untitled Film Still #15 produced in 1978 at the Guggenheim Museum, New York, U.S.; Untitled Film Still #13 created in 1978 part of the collection at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, U.S.; Untitled #224 produced in 1990 exhibited at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
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