Cindy Sherman 1977 – 1982

About

With her early work, Cindy Sherman revolutionized the role of the camera in artistic practice and opened the door for generations of artists and critics to rethink photography as a medium. On 4 May 2022, Hauser & Wirth New York will present over one hundred works from Sherman’s most groundbreaking and influential early series – including the complete set of 70 Untitled Film Stills, Rear Screen Projections and Centerfolds – in her first major solo exhibition with the gallery.

Preferring to work alone, Sherman was not only the photographer, but also the makeup artist, hairdresser, stylist, and director, casting herself as the star of heavily staged, fictional tableaux. Inspired by depictions of women in television, film, and advertising, her characters explored a range of female stereotypes – femme-fatale, career-girl, housewife, etc.– to confront the nature of identity and representation in the media in a way that remains surprising and relevant today. Created over forty years ago, these powerful, enigmatic bodies of work are touchstones of contemporary art that continue to inspire and influence the course of art and image-making.