Cindy Sherman's most recent series of clown images feature riotous makeup, flamboyant costumes and digitally produced backgrounds of synthetic colors and patterns. Behind the sheer visual lushness and latent humor/horror of the portraits, lies Sherman's interest in revealing the underlying pathos of the hysterically happy or intensely nasty clown image; the sadness of the character behind the greasepaint.
Cindy Sherman's most recent series of clown images feature riotous makeup, flamboyant costumes and digitally produced backgrounds of synthetic colors and patterns. Behind the sheer visual lushness and latent humor/horror of the portraits, lies Sherman's interest in revealing the underlying pathos of the hysterically happy or intensely nasty clown image; the sadness of the character behind the greasepaint.
Sherman has been working on the clowns for the last eighteen months. The first five images were shown in her survey exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery, London, last summer. In the most recent pictures, Sherman combines several clown characters in single photographs, digitally manipulating the scale of the figures and the spatial background.
One of the most admired and influential aritst of her generation, Sherman's work has been collected and exhibited by major museums throughout the world since 1980. Numeros monographs have been published on her work including the most recent by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 'The Complete Untitled Film Stills.' Cindy Sherman lives and works in New York City.
Opening Friday 7 May, 6 – 8 PM
Metro Pictures
519 West 24th Street
New York, New York 10011 USA
Phone: (212) 206-7100
Fax: (212) 337-0070