Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman

January 14-February 11, 1995

An exhibition of fifteen recently completed photographs by CINDY SHERMAN opens at METRO PICTURES on Saturday, January 14. In the further evolution of Sherman's subversion of perceived reality, this new work reflects Sherman's interest in the surrealist's experimental manipulation of the photographic medium.

For the first time Sherman uses the pointedly out-of-fashion photographic techniques of multiple exposure, superimposed images, altered film and diverse developing processes. The distortions Sherman produces with these techniques and her continued use of fake body parts, masks, mannequins, classical drapes and dramatic lighting allude not only to surrealist concepts but to the current preoccupation with the "spiritual" covering a range of possibilities from primordial demons to space aliens and manifestations of the primitive psyche. Sherman's introduction at this time of obsolete low-tech effects to her work is a notable departure for her considering its concurrence with newly accessible and highly sophisticated computer capabilities.

Born in 1954 in New Jersey and raised on Long Island, Cindy Sherman is amongst the most widely known and influential artists to emerge in the 1980s. Her importance in photographic practice, seminal role amongst women artists, and position as a major figure in the art of the last dozen years is a remarkable achievement. She has had numerous exhibitions at museums in the U.S., Europe and Japan - among them the Whitney Museum, Whitechapel Gallery in London and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Four separate major museum retrospectives are currently being organized for Japan, Europe (in Hamburg and Rotterdam) and in Los Angeles (at MOCA). 1994 saw the publication of a comprehensive book by Rizzoli and an hour television program produced by the BBC.