Book Description
Cindy Sherman's Untitled Film Stills, a series of 69 black-and-white photographs created between 1977 and 1980, is widely seen as one of the most original and influential achievements in recent art. Witty, provocative and searching, this lively catalogue of female roles inspired by the movies crystallizes widespread concerns in our culture, examining the ways we shape our personal identities and the role of the mass media in our lives. Sherman began making these pictures in 1977 when she was 23 years old. The first six were an experiment: fan-magazine glimpses into the life (or roles) of an imaginary blond actress, played by Sherman herself. The photographs look like movie stills--or perhaps publicity pix--purporting to catch the blond bombshell in unguarded moments at home. The protagonist is shown preening in the kitchen and lounging in the bedroom. Onto something big, Sherman tried other characters in other roles: the chic starlet at her seaside hideaway, the luscious librarian, the domesticated sex kitten, the hot-blooded woman of the people, the ice-cold sophisticate and a can-can line of other stereotypes. She eventually completed the series in 1980. She stopped, she has explained, when she ran out of clichas. Other artists had drawn upon popular culture but Sherman's strategy was new. For her the pop-culture image was not a subject (as it had been for Walker Evans) or raw material (as it had been for Andy Warhol) but a whole artistic vocabulary, ready-made. Her film stills look and function just like the real ones--those 8 x 10 glossies designed to lure us into a drama we find all the more compelling because we know it isn't real. In the Untitled Film Stills there are no Cleopatras, no ladies on trains, no women of a certain age. There are, of course, no men. The 69 solitary heroines map a particular constellation of fictional femininity that took hold in postwar America--the period of Sherman's youth and the starting point for our contemporary mythology. In finding a form for her own sensibility, Sherman touched a sensitive nerve in the culture at large. Although most of the characters are invented, we sense right away that we already know them. That twinge of instant recognition is what makes the series tick and it arises from Cindy Sherman's uncanny poise. There is no wink at the viewer, no open irony, no camp. In 1995, The Museum of Modern Art purchased the series from the artist, preserving the work in its entirety. This book marks the first time that the complete series will be published as a unified work, with Sherman herself arranging the pictures in sequence.
Customer Reviews:
Inventing Situations.......2007-07-24
Cindy Sherman has been called the most important female photographer of the 20th century. You'd never know it if you should happen to run into her on her bicycle in New York. If you've seen her recently, you might have found her riding around with an avid bicyclist and gray haired fellow who used to be in a band....can't remember "the name of this band".
Both Sherman and her beau, David something or another, have been at the forefront of the post or modern avant garde movement. What's striking about Sherman aside from the fact she looks at least a decade younger than she is, is how she blends in, and looks much like a "regular" handsome thirty or forty something (as opposed to my, at least, definition of a "performance artist").
The series of photos in this book are from her early days. In them, I guees she's portraying all the different characters who live in her mind. The range of personas she embodies is bewildering. If you didn't know it was her, you'd think they were photos of a series of different women, and if you didn't know they were staged, or that she's an artist, you'd think they were actresses from a bunch of different 60s movies. The photos are alternately mysterious, profoundly strange and beautiful, always emotionless, and at times hints at hidden eroticism.
She's been riding bikes and opening a more complete retrospective of her work in Europe this spring and early summer, a 300+ page book of which was published in March.
This book is a great introduction to Cindy Sherman. If you like it, go see her show, and buy the new book.
This book shows what is great about Cindy Sherman.......2006-05-03
At first glance, you might see ordinary, banal photos that resemble out takes from studio stills. Look deeper and you will see works of genius that expose a new way of seeing and exploring the inner self that have been highly influential in the art world. This book has the images that started it all for Cindy Sherman and for that reason, you should start with this book if you want to learn about this artist.
Who will like this book? I think just about anyone with an interest in art or photography would consider this a "must have" book for their personal library. Nothing in this book would embarrass you if you gave it as a gift; it is edgy, but not to the point of weirdness. I just gave a copy to my 10-year-old daughter for inspiration and she really enjoyed it (though probably not at the level of an adult). If you are willing to look, this book will reward you.
Like any great artist, she makes it look easy. Her singular vision is apparent in the location selection, "set" design, makeup and costuming. If you have ever tried to do this yourself, you will respect what she has accomplished. The end result is that Ms. Sherman reveals what she wants us to believe are her innermost thoughts and emotions. Like great cinema, these photos achieve true suspension of disbelief and challenge the viewer's own framework of emotional identity. In the end, we believe.
Arguably, these are the best work ever done by Ms. Sherman. One complaint about her newer work is that it seems to continue to retread the same themes and variations. Sure, her newest works are bigger and colorful in keeping with the latest trends in photography -- personally, my favorites are the images in this book. There is a freshness I don't find in her later work. But this human story, like her imagery, will always continue to be explored by artists as long as there are humans to explore.
Untitled Film Stills.......2006-03-08
This book along with the "Centerfolds" hardcover exhibition book provide the essential Cindy Sherman images. The film stills presented here are all in black and white, and her next project "Centerfolds" were all in color. Taken together you get the complete picture on Cindy Sherman.
Great Buy.......2006-02-22
This is a GREAT book. The pages are large and sturdy and show off her artwork well. A huge plus is the introduction written by Sherman...it gives you an inside look at some of the stories behind and the inspirations to some of the photographs. The book features a variety of her work through time. It is arranged very well.
wonderful........2006-02-21
great book and great artist. not sure what the person who wrote negative review was comparing it to, but she/he is a freak show who has way too much time on her/his hands. obviously bitter about something...possibly crazy?
Book Description
Since her earliest photographs in the 1970s, Cindy Sherman has built a name as one of the most respected photographers of our day. Famous for posing as the subject of her own photos, Sherman's work addresses the role of the artist, the impact of the media upon the art world and the position of women in society. Organized in a roughly chronological path by theme, Cindy Sherman provides a comprehensive review of the artist's complete works, including her Bus Riders, Murder Mystery, and Untitled Film Stills series, and photographs on topics ranging from surrealist pictures, fairy tales, rear screen projections, the Old Masters, centerfolds, pink robes, clowns, dolls, and Hollywood. Fascinating archival material includes a notebook of personal snapshots that Sherman kept from an early age, on which she would circle herself and label each one: "That's Me." This monograph is the catalogue for an international exhibition that will be held in Paris, Denmark, Austria, and Berlin from 2006 through 2007.
Customer Reviews:
with no problems.......2007-08-31
everything was ok with the servise. the shipping was on time and the prodact came out just fine....
Average customer rating:
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Cindy Sherman
Arthur Danto
Manufacturer: Rizzoli
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Sherman, Cindy
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ASIN: 084781274X
Release Date: 1990-09-15 |
Book Description
Produced in conjunction with the preeminent Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, Virginia, Aperture's essential series Photography Speaks will be reissued as one newly revised and expanded edition in the fall of 2004. From Matthew Brady to Cindy Sherman, more than 150 artists are represented in this new, combined volume spanning the entire history of the medium. This compendium contains biographical information and an original statement from each artist, accompanied by an example of their work. A favorite with photographers and requisite course material for many students, the discourse on art and artistry contained in this volume is of unprecedented scale, collecting the writing of such diverse photographers as William Henry Fox Talbot, Eugène Atget, Alfred Stieglitz, Lewis Hine, August Sander, Man Ray, Weegee, Robert Frank, Diane Arbus, Robert Heinecken, and Lucas Samaras. New additions include selections from Nadar, William Eggleston, Eikoh Hosoe, Gordon Parks, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Christian Boltanski, and Rineke Dijkstra. The contributors expound on topics such as their method and intentions, the state of the arts, or the medium itself. Photography Speaks has been and will continue to be a vital reference source, an enduring testament to the art of photography and an engrossing text for artists and enthusiasts alike.
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Cindy Sherman: A Play of Selves
Manufacturer: Hatje Cantz
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ASIN: 3775719423
Release Date: 2007-02-01 |
Book Description
It was in the mid-70s that Cindy Sherman began making her earliest works, in which she explored various manipulations of her own persona. She began by experimenting with makeup and costumes, getting dressed up for parties and surprising her friends. She then moved on to photograph herself in the various personas she had created, producing highly inventive but somewhat more primitive versions of the seminal work for which she would later become known, the Untitled Film Stills series. It was during this early period that Sherman created A Play of Selves--a visual tale of a young woman overwhelmed by various alter-egos that compete inside of her, and her final conquering of self-doubt. Acted out with 16 separate characters, these 72 photographic assemblages mark Sherman's earliest explorations of herself-as-subject in a series of staged photographs. Published here for the first time, these photographs include hundreds of shots of the artist costumed as various characters in dozens of poses. Organized in a four-act "play" with an elaborate, handwritten script, the individual images were cut by the artist from original black-and-white prints. Preface by Cindy Sherman.
Customer Reviews:
inspirational and informative.......2004-12-02
I bought this book because, like most photography students (I'm getting my MFA), I've always been fascinated by Cindy Sherman and also because I've recently found my own work stumbling into the terrain of feminity and the aesthetics thereof. I thought this book would probably be oversimplistic in the analysis of Sherman's work and mainly bought it to have an index of her images, but the text is actually refreshingly concise and clear compared to most of the photographic theory I've read elsewhere. As a seasoned photography student and a relative novice in Shermanland, I highly recommend this book.
Good Introduction to this Remarkable Artist.......2000-05-22
This short book can serve as a wonderful non-technical introduction to the work of Cindy Sherman. The book is filled with reproductions of her work from various periods in her stylistic evolution. Wisely, the author does not seek to didactically interpret Sherman's work for the reader-- instead she presents the material while raising a number of issues for the reader to contemplate.
For those unfamiliar with Sherman's work, one of the most striking aspects is her use of her own self as model in most of her works (especially those from earlier in her career). Her later works are a little more dangerous-- using dolls and other non-human subjects in often graphically subversive sexual contortions.
Cindy Sherman is a true contemporary genius in that her works speak to a very large audience on various levels of meaning. My only reservation about the book is that it seems a little too brief in its discussion of Sherman's biography (although the inclusion of her early work is certainly revealing). One wonders about the "real" Cindy Sherman-- and how she differs from the "Cindy Sherman" that appears in the Untitled Film Stills that solidified her position as a great American artist.
A great photographic work........2000-04-05
I was just surfing around and stumbled in here. I've read this title, Anyone unfamiliar with the model in question should get this and anyone familiar should read this as it is one of the greatest books on her. The only reason this does not get 5 stars is pieces of it I thought were wordy and a bit belaboring. Overall a great read however.
Book Description
In the previous century, photography helped shape art; in the current one, it has begun to dominate it. Not only are major international museums and galleries mounting blockbuster exhibitions, but art photographers are also being celebrated as contemporary masters and their work commands unprecedented prices. This indispensable survey presents the work of 76 of the most important and best-known art photographers in the world: Andreas Gursky, Thomas Struth, Cindy Sherman, Jeff Wall, Sophie Calle, Wolfgang Tillmans, Nan Goldin, Martin Parr, Allan Sekula, Boris Mikhailov, Inez van Lamsweerde, Stephen Meisel, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Sam Taylor-Wood, and many more are featured in its pages. Susan Bright, former Curator of Photographs at London's National Portrait Gallery, has organized the book into seven sections--City, Portrait, Document, Object, Landscape, Fashion, and Narrative--and provides an introductory essay for each. Along with each photographer's works, presented in sequence within those divisions, Bright's commentaries provide context and depth, and quotations from the artists themselves offer valuable insights into the motivation, inspiration, and intentions behind the work. Following in the tradition of Photography Past/Forward: Aperture at 50 and the Photography Speaks series, this volume will become an essential resource for curators, collectors, scholars, practitioners, and anyone who wants comprehensive, up-to-date exposure to the state of the medium today.
Customer Reviews:
good text some good artists but..........2007-05-21
Very good Rhigting but only a few serious art photographers in this book all the others don't know anything about photography or art and the "visual" failure to pass the message of the concept they are dealing with at all!
There are a lot of much more better artists that deal with the same matters to choose from.
Is sade to see how the curators and academics that deal with art photography, follow the art dealers and PR people and they are failing on their mission and leading this wonderfull art of photography to pathetic places
one-sided view.......2006-06-21
to call this 'art photography now' is a bold move, and this collection is less a survey than an advertisement for a particular style of photography. the work doesn't vary much from artist to artist, and if you don't like color fictive constructions and digital manipulation then you probably won't like this book. as the trend of this type of large scale, color, set-up, advertising-influenced work fades, this book will seem a sad reminder of a rather lame period in photo history when the majority of galleries, critics, artists, and dealers joined forces to produce (like this title) little more than a shopping mall of trendy, elitist, high-priced commodity under the guise of art.
A trip to 80 (good) art galleries in a single book.......2006-05-08
It is difficult to find good contemporary photography overviews -- typically, you could go to galleries or museums for several years or buy a stack of art photography books and spend days going through them -- assuming you had a strong Art background. This book offers a nice alternative and it is one of the best overviews of contemporary fine art photography available.
Aperture, a respected photography publishing house, has beautifully produced this handsome book with 80 of what they consider to be the best living and working art photographers. The selection is broad, encompasses many areas and is well organized into 7 sections from Portrait to City. Several works from each artist are presented along with a short description of an artist's Work from a curator's perspective. Even more valuable are quotations from each artist describing their Work from their perspective. This alone makes the book worth owning.
Photographers you might know; Cindy Sherman, Thomas Ruff, Gregory Crewdson, Jeff Wall, Uta Barth, Joel Sternfeld, Thomas Demand and many others are alongside people you have probably never heard of but should get to know. The coverage of the cinematic, self exploration/psychological, conceptual and to some extent digital influences presented here should be thought provoking. Clearly, the "digitalness" of photography as a medium and all that implies -- interaction and collaboration, manipulation and realism, and authenticity and authority -- is growing in importance and will no doubt be better covered in the future as those artists emerge.
There are only two omissions that would have been interesting to see included; artists such as Gerhard Richter, best known for his painting and who uses photography extensively -- and some of the newest up and comers, like Idris Khan. To be fair, those areas are rich enough to support separate books and you should not let this keep you from buying this book. Overall, this is an excellent way to quickly learn about contemporary photography and you will not be disappointed.
one of the best contemporary photography books.......2006-02-13
i think this book is one of the best art books available on the market. Every section is divided by the artist and it's explained in a very complete way and very simple to understand at the same time...a real dilight to your mind and a strong pleasure to the eye!!!
rare example of contemporary photography book.......2006-02-13
it's not the first time for me to go throgh photograpy art books, and i have been into contemporary art and contemporary photography for many years. I can affirm that this book is one of the best and more interesting i have ever read... extremaly attractive and taken into great care!!!
Book Description
Cindy Sherman's photographs are almost immediately recognizable. Using herself as the model, she assumes numerous disguises to portray "characters" both fictional and famous, or to reinvent situations both commonplace and extraordinary. The consistency of her form and her adoption of familiar images and icons has earned her work a reputation for accessibility. But Sherman's popularity in no way detracts from her status as one of her generation's most accomplished photographers. From her early "Untitled Film Stills" to her more recent "Sex Pictures" Cindy Sherman continues to challenge, surprise, provoke and delight us with her unique interpretations of the media, culture, and gender. This retrospective volume offers a generous sampling of two decades of Sherman's work. In more than 200 color and black and white images it chronicles her development as an artist and as a social critic. Included here are images from her many groundbreaking projects—"History Portraits," "Centerfolds," "Disasters," "Fairy Tales," and "Civil War"—in which Sherman plays both director and actress in highly staged tableaux that run the gamut from comical and ridiculous to sinister and grotesque. Sherman's irony and intelligence are evident everywhere throughout this beautifully reproduced volume; so are her versatility and lack of pretension. It is the combination of these qualities—frustrating to scholars and critics —that endear her to the vast audiences who see themselves in her self-portraits.
Book Description
When curators at Saint Louis's Contemporary Art Museum asked Cindy Sherman whether there was a moment in her career whose resonance might be underappreciated, one around which she might like to develop an exhibit and a book, she selected her earliest adult creative years, beginning while she was still a student at Buffalo State College in the mid-1970s. Working Girl is full of rarely seen pieces, and it features, for the first time, documentation of and stills from Sherman's 1975 animated short Doll Clothes, which is among the pieces that bring Sherman's early exploration of gender and identity into focus. The mostly small-scale work, including many early black-and-white, hand-colored, and sepia-toned photographs, is culled primarily from the artist's family members' collections and her own, and includes the pieces that laid the groundwork for her first major success, the acclaimed Film Stills series. Working Girl is a unique glimpse into the early development of Sherman's artistic practice, and into the genesis of her inimitable substance and style. It illuminates her conceptual approach to photography and foretells the career that would be launched in the late 1970s, positioning her as one of the most significant artists of our time.
Books:
- Circling the Sacred Mountain: A Spiritual Adventure Through the Himalayas
- Color in Interior Design
- Control Systems for Live Entertainment, Second Edition
- Deep South
- Detour/Allen Frame
- Facial Expressions: A Visual Reference for Artists
- Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy (Fancy Nancy)
- Film Directing: Shot by Shot: Visualizing from Concept to Screen (Michael Wiese Productions)
- Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results
- For Whom the Bell Tolls
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