Cindy Sherman : Untitled Horrors

by Kathy Acker, Sibylle Berg, Miranda July

Throughout her career, Cindy Sherman (born 1954) has been interested in exposing the darker sides of human nature, noticeable both in her selection of subject matter (fairytales, disasters, sex, horror, surrealism) and in her disquieting interpretations of well-established photographic genres, such as film stills, fashion photography and society portraiture. Delving relentlessly into the more grotesque extremes of delusion, vanity and self-image, Sherman probes deeply into the masks and distractions we all employ to set apart our public and our private personae, and challenges us to consider how bizarre and unconvincing our attempts at projecting a semblance of normality can be. Attracting a certain degree of notoriety, intense and ongoing public interest as well as extensive critical acclaim, Sherman's works continue to challenge and intrigue in equal measure. This richly illustrated publication deploys a selection of works from across her career to highlight and acknowledge these particular aspects of her art. These images are accompanied by more recent work, as well as essays from well-known authors, filmmakers and artists who likewise deal with the grotesque, the uncanny and the extraordinary in their practice.

Genres: Art, Photography, The United States Of America

232 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 2013

About the author

Born of German-Jewish stock, Kathy Acker was brought up by her mother and stepfather (her natural father left her mother before Kathy was born) in a prosperous district of NY. At 18, she left home and worked as a stripper. Her involvement in the sex industry helped to make her a hit on the NY art scene, and she was photographed by the newly fashionable Robert Mapplethorpe. Preferring to be known simply as 'Acker' (the name she took from her first husband Robert, and which she continued to use even after a short-lived second marriage to composer Peter Gordon), she moved to London in the mid-eighties and stayed in Britain for five years.

Acker's writing is as difficult to classify into any particular genre as she herself was. She writes fluidly, operating in the borderlands and junkyards of human experience. Her work is experimental, playful, and provocative, engagingly alienating, narratively non sequitur.

Reviews

[Michael Bohli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Manchmal im Leben zäumt man das Pferd von hinten auf. So etwa beim Werk von Cindy Sherman. Zuerst war für mich das Essay von Karl Ove Knausgård, der mit seiner Sprache nicht nur gewisse Bilder der Fotografin und Künstlerin erläuterte, sondern diese mit der Welt und der Menschheitsgeschickte auf unglaubliche Weise verband. Eine kurze Bilder-Suche, grosses Erstaunen, eine Reportage im Art-Magazin. Und dann der Fund des Kataloges "Untitled Horrors".

Erst nach dem Kauf wurde mir bewusst, dass sich in dem morbiden, beeindruckenden und beängstigenden Werk oben erwähnter Essay befand. Nebst wundervollen Beiträgen von Personen wie etwa Miranda July, Sibylle Berg oder Sara Stridsberg. Diese Texte kontrastieren die Fotografien, ergründen diese, erweitern deren Möglichkeiten und zeigen immer wieder auf, was für eine geniale Person Cindy Sherman ist. Für alle Freunde der kunstvollen und andersartigen Fotografie ein Muss.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably Sherman's craziest stuff, all in one package. Super dope poem by Sjon and other words by that Knausgård dude and Miranda July as well.

[Dylan Kiewel · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love cindy so much