BIFF Offscreen: Untitled (Four Iconic Photos)

Cindy Sherman Works from the Gerald Mead Collection are on view October 8 through October 15 @ Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center.

In conjunction with the Western New York premiere of the new documentary “CINDY SHERMAN: PICTURE THIS” directed by Sophie Chahinian screening at Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center on Friday, October 9, four iconic Cindy Sherman photographs on loan from the collection of Gerald Mead are on display in the pocket gallery outside the cinema at Hallwalls.

One of the founding artists of Hallwalls while a student at Buffalo State College, Sherman is a legendary American photographer whose work continues to be celebrated worldwide. Gerald Mead is a noted WNY collector whose extensive collection of Sherman’s images spans six decades of her career.

Selections include –

Untitled (Sun Tan), 2003

chromogenic color print, 253/350

In this portrait, created as an edition to accompany Sherman’s solo exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery in London, Sherman uses makeup and styling to mock the artificiality and societal pressures of manufactured youth and bronzed beauty.

Collection of Gerald Mead.

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Untitled (Doctor and Nurse), 1979/1992

sepia toned gelatin silver prints

This diptych by Sherman is a rare early instance where Sherman disguises herself as a man, using commercial staff portraiture tropes to subversively explore gender roles and professional stereotypes. It is one of three variations on this subject she created in the 70s and 80s.

Collection of Gerald Mead, Promised bequest gift to the New York State Museum.

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Untitled (Lucy), 1975/2001

gelatin silver print, unlimited edition

Unlike her later conceptual work where she creates ambiguous personas, this rare early piece is a direct impression of legendary actress Lucille Ball from the 1930s. The image was made in a photobooth located in fellow Hallwalls founding artist Michael Zwack’s studio in Buffalo.

Collection of Gerald Mead, Promised bequest gift to the University at Buffalo Art Galleries.

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Untitled (Pregnant Woman), 2002/2004

chromogenic color print, 212/300

This photograph by Cindy that explores identity, aging, and societal expectations of motherhood was created for a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood in New York City.

Collection of Gerald Mead, Promised bequest gift to the Buffalo AKG Art Museum.

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Cindy Sherman is an internationally recognized photographer, film director and one of the founders of Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center. Her provocative, conceptual art is critically acclaimed. She is best known for her conceptual self-portraits, often done in series.

Sherman was born in Glenn Ridge, New Jersey, and grew up in Huntington, Long Island. She began studying painting at Buffalo State College but soon found that photography was her preferred medium. In Buffalo, she met artists Charlie Clough and Robert Longo. Sherman and fellow young visual artists such as Diane Bertolo, Charles Clough, Nancy Dwyer, Robert Longo, and Michael Zwack founded Hallwalls, an independent art space. According to hallwalls.com, the artists “carved an exhibition space out of the walls of the hall outside their studios in a former icehouse.”

After receiving her BA at Buffalo State in 1976, Sherman moved to New York City to work as an artist. Living in lower Manhattan, Sherman took a series of photographs that became known as Untitled Film Stills. Perhaps her other most critically acclaimed projects are the History Portraits series and what is known as “Sex Pictures.”

Regarding Untitled Film Stills:

“In these photographs, begun in 1977, Sherman places herself in the roles of B-movie actresses. Her photographs show her dressed up in wigs, hats, dresses, clothes unlike her own, playing the roles of characters. While many may mistake these photographs for self-portraits, these photographs only play with elements of self-portraiture and are really something quite different. In each of these photographs, Sherman plays a type -- not an actual person, but a self-fabricated fictional one. There is the archetypal housewife, the prostitute, the woman in distress, the woman in tears, the dancer, the actress, and the malleable, chameleon-like Sherman plays all of these characters” (cindysherman.com).

Sherman’s artistic career encompasses more than photography. In 1997, she made her directorial debut with the art-house horror film/black comedy called OFFICE KILLER.

In 1998 she made a cameo in the comedy PECKER, directed by John Waters.

Cindy Sherman lives and works in New York City.

For more information, visit www.cindysherman.com.

Bio courtesy of Burchfield Penney Art Center and the artist's website.

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Images courtesy of the Gerald Mead Collection.

Many thanks to Gerald Mead.