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Terror and mockery come together in the portraits of Cindy Sherman on display
at the Crocker Art Museum. Walking into the large, dimly lit ballroom, one may
begin to feel a slight sense of trepidation as the viewer looks around to find
nine sets of beady eyes watching one's every move. Sherman produced her History
Portraits during the late eighties and early nineties, nine of which are
displayed at the museum. In her portraits she uses lush fabrics, lavish jewelry,
and false body parts to decorate herself in these self-portraits. Her portraits
have been know to cause discomfort in the viewers who find the general
stereotypes, depicted in her portraits, amusing, yet confusing and terrorizing.
Sherman's Untitled #225 (Blond Woman) triggers those exact emotions. The
portrait is a large colored photograph created in 1990.
An eighteenth century
blond, Madonna-like, young lady sits poised with one hand on her exposed
artificial breast as if she is nursing a baby. She is well dressed in a blue
satin dress, small white beads laced through her braided hair, and a tiara atop
her head. Her icy, blue eyes stare off to the left with a harsh, cold
expression. With her breast aimed high, spewing fluids, in the same direction as
she stares, it is difficult to imagine what is going through her head, however
it is clear that it is something of an almost vindictive and unforgiving nature.
Possibly, she points her breast toward a man who betrayed her or harassed her.
The overall painting, much like the others in the exhibit, is generally flat,
yet she uses contouring lines and overlapping to give the paintings depth and
perception. Like Untitled #225 (Blond Woman), Sherman's Untitled portrait #198
(Feather Mask) also stirs a sense of uneasiness. The portrait is a color
photograph created in 1989. A woman with an open salmon colored shirt exposes
both artificial breasts as she sits with a large, blue feather mask covering her
face, as if to cover her identity for fear of being mocked for being a woman.
Dark, black eyes peer from beneath the mask, and appear to follow the viewer
while one examines the portrait. There's seems to be no reason for her shirt to
be open and her breasts on display, unlike Sherman's Untitled #225 (Blond Woman)
portrait, who seemed to have a definite reason. The fake, jewelry-like nipples
on the breast are a deep ruby red color that match with a red pedant hung around
her neck. A white tulle skirt covers the lower half of her body as she sits in
front of a green printed fabric with red tassels that is hung loosely behind
her. Sherman's Untitled #211 (Oval Profile of Woman) is also a color photograph
created in 1989. The portrait shows the profile of a middle-aged woman facing
the right with a stacked, beaded necklace draped around her neck. She is a well
dressed aristocratic in a black sequence blouse with white chiffon sleeves. Her
brown hair is held up with colorful scarfs. She holds her nose high in the air
as to look sophisticated or arrogant. The uneven texture of the skin appears as
if the nose was made out of clay and placed on top of her real nose. The
technique Sherman uses to paint her cheek and chin makes it look as if the woman
is wearing make-up that is caked and unevenly applied. The woman looks tired and
pale with red in the corners of her eyes, and dark circles under her eyes. The
woman symbolizes the arrogance in women and the need for lavish, material
possessions. Cindy Sherman's work has been adorned throughout the United States
and Rome, where her History Portraits made their debut. She has a way of
depicting general stereotypes of women and distorting them to encourage the
viewer to read further into the painting to create their own theories of what
the painting represents. Her unique use of inanimate objects combined with her
intrinsic attention to detail allows the portrait to come to life, yet remain
simulated. She is truly a gifted artist who combines wit and shock to create
portraits of hidden meaning value that is only to be revealed through the
artistic mind of the viewer.
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