Cindy Sherman has long been known for her love of dressing up. Inventing new characters became part of her photography early on in her 35-year career, and her most famous work remains Untitled Film Stills (1977 – 80), in which she posed as imaginary B-movie and film noir actresses.
Now 64, Sherman has her first solo show in London since 2011 at Sprüth Magers’ Mayfair gallery, with a body of work also inspired by the Hollywood machine. In a selection of large-scale colour portraits, Sherman is the subject of all the images – re-cast as various ‘grandes dames’ of 1920s Hollywood, in what appear to be publicity shots.
The untitled series was first shown in Europe in Berlin last year, and at the time Sherman told The Guardian that she hopes her images take on their own life. “I want there to be hints of narrative everywhere in the image so that people can make up their own stories about them,” she said. “But I don’t want to have my own narrative and force it on to them. And it shouldn’t seem so real that it looks like it was shot in a studio today. I want it to transcend time somehow.
“There have been times when I have just caught a glimpse of a reflection and thought: that is not me. That is somebody else,” she added. “I love it when that happens. I am star-struck that this apparition has been created.”
Cindy Sherman is on show until 01 September at Sprüth Magers London, 7A Grafton Street
London, W1S 4EJ www.spruethmagers.com
