Cindy Sherman Essay Thesis

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Struggling with crafting a thesis on Cindy Sherman's artwork? You're not alone.

Writing a thesis can


be a daunting task, especially when delving into the intricate world of art analysis. Cindy Sherman's
work is renowned for its complexity and depth, making it even more challenging to encapsulate in a
thesis statement.

From her early conceptual photographs to her groundbreaking explorations of identity and
representation, Sherman's art presents a myriad of themes and interpretations. Whether you're
analyzing her use of self-portraiture, questioning the construction of gender norms in her images, or
examining the role of the spectator in shaping meaning, there's no shortage of avenues to explore in a
thesis on Cindy Sherman.

However, navigating through this vast terrain of ideas and concepts can be overwhelming. It requires
not only a deep understanding of Sherman's body of work but also a keen analytical eye and the
ability to articulate complex ideas effectively. Crafting a thesis that does justice to Sherman's artistry
while making a unique contribution to the field is no easy feat.

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analysis of this iconic artist's work.
The series Fairy Tales (1985) turned fairy tales into nightmares, and her Horror and Surrealist
Pictures (1994-1996) featured assemblages of bodies and monsters. Despite all the claims of body
positivity and female empowerment in recent years, is the ad industry more prudish than it lets on.
Along with artists like Laurie Simmons, Louise Lawler, and Barbara Kruger, Sherman is considered
to be part of the Pictures Generation. She began to focus more on the facial expression and lighting
due to the colored prints. Another prominent investigation of identity in this portrait is through
interrogation of the male gaze. Equally important is evidence from the 1980s and 1990s that
Sherman’s own intentions were not what placed her there, but rather the interpretations of art
historians and critics coming off of the feminist art movement of the 1970s. The mask calls to mind
Manet’s 1872 Berthe Morisot with a Fan and the revealing blouse has the color and shape of Glenn
Close’s dress at the beginning of Dangerous Liaisons (1988). Her constant change of identity is the
Cycle of transformtion and I found this interesting as many people go through a stage of changing
who they are and how they want to be seen by others. These techniques taught her about color
balance and how certain colors registered better than others, giving her work a unique blend of
personal vision and imaginative interpretation which she expressed in a 1933 article entitled “Why
Colour?”. In 1995, The Museum of Modern Art bought the series for a reported one million dollars.
The Untitled Film Stills series features the artist as characters from unspecific black and white films
from the 1950s conically featuring the female character as a damsel-in-distress. It has also opened up
the potential of creating meaningful non-narrative, poetic films within my own filmmaking practice.
She has, however, received criticism from some feminists for the indulgence with which she depicts
female stereotypes and for the victimised position that most of her “characters” adopt. There is a
striking contrast between the two objects, oscillating between the affirmation of life and beauty and
a warning of death. In this image, an oval-shaped photograph ( ovato tondo ), Sherman’s inspiration
draws from Piero della Francesca’s Battista Sforza. They are based on representations shared by the
viewers who accept to enter Sherman’s fictional universe, while remaining tied up to the referential
sphere that her works are based on. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to
manage cookies. In 2003 she created Clowns, and in 2008, Society Portraits. In the end, Sherman’s
Madonna is, of course, purposefully ambiguous: the lines of visual, social and sexual stereotypes are
blurred. Modernist Non-fictional Narratives of War and Peace (1914-1950). The series is of 69 black
and white pictures, where she poses as actresses through the 1940s to 1960s. As a pupil of the
Edwardian photographer Lallie Charles, Yevonde gained “photographic education, an initiation into
business practice and studio administration but most importantly an introduction to the concept of
society portraiture” (Williams 91). Where is the support for art that is about women, and by women
and for women. Intermedialites: histoire et theorie des arts, des lettres et des techniques 6 (Fall
2005): 43-64. Print. To her, photography is both an artistic and critical device: she uses it as a head-
on denunciation of the triumph of television and the fashion industry, from which she was often
commissioned work in the ’80s. For example, her Untitled Film Stills show to what great extent
American cinema has influenced popular culture: her “multiples without originals” (Rosalind Krauss),
without referents, and her allusions to a vague cinematic universe, make her a major representative of
postmodernism. Lee Man Ray Robert Mapplethorpe Ana Mendieta Tracey Moffatt Eadweard J.
Feminine identities are modeled by art history, the media and culture, all converging to a norm or a
paraphernalia of attributes that are said to be “feminine” (fragility, seduction, mystery): it is in
reaction to the constraints of these feminine ideals that Yevonde and Sherman produce such
kaleidoscopic artwork, disseminating other images within their own works and questioning the very
notion of the model. Acquired through the generosity of Jo Carole and Ronald S. And, the woman
who bravely attempts to break this vicious pattern by refusing to play the feminine role, such as the
active feminist, is perceived as having surrendered her need for protection, thereby subjecting herself
to the attacks of her predators (Hoagland 453-54).
Sherman used the medium of photography and created persona's to raise challenging and
controversial questions about the roles and representation of women in society. Through the act of
turning the camera on herself, and directing and photographing the images through a vocabulary of
popular film culture, she shows that being a women is a masquerade, a performance, something that
you can freely choose and construct for yourself. Violence was exacerbated in the series Disasters
(1986-1989), and became pornographic in her Sex Pictures (1992) and Broken Dolls (1999).
Intermedialites: histoire et theorie des arts, des lettres et des techniques 6 (Fall 2005): 43-64. Print.
This of course emboldens misogynist leaders everywhere, including in New Zealand, where 1 in 3
women are sexually assaulted. The porn industry has been based on this degradation and
dehumanisation since the witchcraze, which is why slapping, gagging, strangling, and spitting on
women are such common practices within it. The artist semi-regularly posts pictures of herself there
that are heavily manipulated using filters and face-altering apps to create unnerving self-portraits. I
am a college student studying art and the media, and how the two are inseperable. Female
representation is a tokenistic, tick-box exercise when all women are either silent or conformist on
issues of gender. This paper will argue that both women artists have chosen to pay homage to the
past and the way it can be rejuvenated through perpetual recycling and iconic transfers. Lately I’ve
been looking at a lot of images from Surrealism and Dada, but I never remember which ones are the
Man Rays, say, because I’m just looking for what interests me (in Kimmelman). Edition of 6.
Courtesy of the artist and Metro Pictures. One of the most prominent modes of expression since the
Renaissance has been portraiture. A series of portraits of women in the late 1950s-early 1960s was
called Dove or Predator. This Botticellian photograph echoes her earlier Fouquet work, for
intericonicity is what makes Sherman’s work so uniquely coherent. Rather than creating new faces,
the tapestries are based on images posted on Sherman’s personal Instagram account. Color is taken
for granted and digital technologies have completely changed the way pictures are taken. CR speaks
to a handful of experts about the risk to brand recognition, and whether these initiatives actually
make a difference or whether it’s just a good bit of PR. Modernist Non-fictional Narratives:
Rewriting Modernism. Into the 1990s, her work included the series Centerfolds, and Sex Pictures.
Yevonde’s work was revolutionary for the time for she was fascinated by the technicality of the
photographical process (although the Vivex color process she so much enjoyed working with was
very short-lived and ended with the war 6 ). How do such resilience, persistence and porosity allow
the itinerant pictures not only to participate in the production of new works of art, but also to
enhance the cultural and genderly impact of such works. Acquired through the generosity of Jo
Carole and Ronald S. This essay examines Sherman’s self-portrait Untitled Film Still 53 arguing that
it presents a comprehensive response to mainstream perspectives on identity and actively resists the
male gaze. In this process, the viewer short-circuits images throughout time and defies anachronisms
in a Hubermanian way, in order to apprehend the image not as a fixed object, but as a dynamic
addition of practices related to a predefined iconic environment or an inherited one. Our advanced
search helps you find books by other key criteria including price, publisher, publishing date,
bookseller location and more. She wears the elaborate makeup and costume to transform her identity
into a totally new character. In part, Sherman explores the changing face of women’s roles in history.
Indeed, on my recent visit to the City Gallery, my friend asked one of the male staff what it was like
to spend hours sharing rooms with Sherman’s photographs. “They’re a bit scary,” he said, explaining
how he shifted between the rooms to help himself cope. “Some of them remind me of the women
who work here.” We were upstairs, so perhaps he was referring to Sherman’s Society Ladies. The
exhibition showcases the artist’s individual series and also presents works grouped thematically
around such common threads as cinema and performance; horror and the grotesque; myth, carnival,
and fairy tales; and gender and class identity.
The porn industry has been based on this degradation and dehumanisation since the witchcraze,
which is why slapping, gagging, strangling, and spitting on women are such common practices
within it. In this image, an oval-shaped photograph ( ovato tondo ), Sherman’s inspiration draws
from Piero della Francesca’s Battista Sforza. And, the woman who bravely attempts to break this
vicious pattern by refusing to play the feminine role, such as the active feminist, is perceived as
having surrendered her need for protection, thereby subjecting herself to the attacks of her predators
(Hoagland 453-54). She always created a narrative that played on issues like the importance of
beauty for women or the how women are expected to act. She creates a purposely unattractive and
awkward looking to push her idea that masking ourselves is unnatural. He talks to us about his latest
exhibition in London and navigating the endless debates about his work. Since her first showing, She
has had dozens of displays, both sharing with other artists, and solo exhibitions on her own. The
image on the bottom, a diptych by Richard Prince, shows the two artists dressed in the same
“costume,” making it difficult to identify who is who. These vary from plain grey or white to
elaborate, distorted landscapes which again have been created using Instagram effects. We speak to
two of the report’s contributors about how designers are reflecting present anxieties and pining for
the past via typography. A low, slightly tilted camera angle places her in the centre of the image,
looking at something beyond the frame in what might be fear, anxiety or disgust, we’re not quite
sure. In the foreground, a woman in suit and hat is separated from the background, a Manhattan-
style skyline, through the controlled use of shallow depth of field. A MacArthur fellowship was
awarded for Sherman in 1995. Women Making Art: Women Artists from the Visual, Literary, and
Performing Arts, 1960-1990, eds. Download Free PDF View PDF Techniques of The Self; On the art
of Cindy Sherman from Untitled Film Stills to Instagram Dr. Daniel Rubinstein Considered as a
whole, Sherman's project touches on three interlinked dimensions of contemporary existence: first, it
puts forward a conception of time appropriate to the accelerated tempo of instant communication
and new media. British Journal of Photography (29 April 1921): 251-254. Print. Beyond the obvious
subversion and irony, these series, similarly to the works of Hans Bellmer, staged contorted,
dismembered and burnt dummies and mannequins as instruments of a macabre fantasy of the
inanimate. Through the act of turning the camera on herself, and directing and photographing the
images through a vocabulary of popular film culture, she shows that being a women is a masquerade,
a performance, something that you can freely choose and construct for yourself. It is the farthest
extension, in sensibility, of the metaphor of life as theatre” with the “convertibility” of man and
woman, person and thing (Sontag). A page from her notebook shows how interested she was in
bodily peculiarities that would conjure up pictures of certain types of characters, like condensed
hypotyposes. Sherman would then choose to focus on the theme of masks ( Masks series, 1994-
1996) and clowns ( Clowns series, 2003-2004). Feminist theory contains a strong emphasis on the
representation of women in television and film, with Laura Mulvey’s the gaze a prominent area of
consideration. Sherman was a genius when setting up a frame, and because digital cameras were not
invented yet, she often went threw rolls and rolls of film just to get one shot. This so-called
feminism rewards women for not taking sexual politics seriously; not looking at the real life impacts
of male dominance and institutionalised objectification, and for accepting uncritical, individualistic
narratives about “choice”, “identity” and “sex positivity”. She became the model, hair stylish,
makeup artist, author, wardrobe mistress and director. I had to fill in the blanks for myself, in an
experience that has remained with me ever since. What makes it successful is when I suddenly don’t
sense anything about myself in that image” (in Brittain 190). Etudes photographiques 20 (juin
2007).. 20 June 2008. Web. 29 August 2014. Complex representational layers show how the History
Portraits make fun of painting as high art. There are various settings that she employs in the photos.

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