Meet Cindy Sherman: Artist. Photographer. Chameleon
By Jan
Greenberg and Sandra Jordan.
Roaring
Brook Press. 2017
ISBN:
9781626725201
Note: While Cathy is on Sabbatical, Louise will be writing all the reviews. Cathy will return in March, 2018.
There was
once a girl who loved playing dress up and pretending to be someone else. “She put tape on her face and pulled it into
strange shapes to look like a ghoul. She painted herself with poster paint and
took the train into New York city with her friends to spend an afternoon “fake”
shopping as the paint peeled off her eyelids.”
In this absorbing
biography, Greenberg and Jordan do an excellent job of highlighting the
fascinating, creative process of Cindy Sherman. In her work, Untitled Film
Stills, Sherman would dress herself up in various costumes and photograph
herself in any spot that interested her. When she develop the film it would look
cracked and grainy. Sherman wanted her photos to resemble black-and-white film
stills that were used to promote movies. The project was done over four years
and included sixty-nine images.
To this day, Sherman continues
to do many interesting photograph series with herself as the main character.
Her ability to totally transform herself is truly amazing.
The
narrative is paired throughout with well-captioned color photographs of Sherman’s
different art projects.
The book includes
a section called Production Notes that takes a deeper look at the artist. One
fact that stood out for me was that Sherman was the first woman artist in
the world to sell a photograph for $1,000,000.
Other back matter: a bibliography, source notes, lists of artwork by
Sherman.
Share this
with middle and high school students.
Click here to visit the artist's website for more information about her work.
I borrowed a copy of this book from my local public library.
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