Photographs by Cindy Sherman on View at the Burchfield-Penney
The Burchfield-Penney Art Center is pleased to present The Unseen Cindy Sherman: Early Transformations (1975-76), a touring exhibition from the Montclair Art Museum in Montclair, New Jersey, and Cindy Sherman: Western New York Collections, on view at the Burchfield-Penney from October 23, 2004 January 9, 2005. Both exhibitions begin with an opening reception on Friday, October 22, 2004 from 5:30 7:30 p.m.
The Unseen Cindy Sherman: Early Transformations (1975-76) brings together a previously unknown selection of works by leading contemporary artist Cindy Sherman. Culled from family collections, these works comprise early photographs and montages created when the artist was student at Buffalo State College during the mid 1970s, providing the foundation for her emergence as one of the most important artists of her generation. Using herself as the subject of her staged photographs, Sherman explores the myriad constructions of female identity and the body in our popular culture.
"Virtually unknown are a group of early photographic works of 1975-1976, completed when Sherman was a student at Buffalo State College and soon thereafter, with which the artist had already begun to confront the variety of ways in which women and even men are depicted in America's mass media, image saturated society," writes Gail Stavitsky, chief curator at the Montclair Art Museum and organizer of The Unseen Cindy Sherman: Early Transformations (1975-76) in her essay which accompanies the exhibition. "These prophetic works parody the styles and conventions of such sources of idealized femininity as women's magazines, old movies, and television. Already, they are not conventional self-portraits but inventions of different characters through varieties of costume, makeup, setting, facial expression and pose, which draw, nonetheless, upon the artist's own experiences and preoccupations. Sherman is her own actress, scenarist, cinematographer, lighting designer, makeup artist, and costumer. Exhibited together as a group for the first time, they provide and opportunity to look anew at Sherman’s work in the fill context of her formative life experiences and artistic influences."
Complementing The Unseen Cindy Sherman: Early Transformations (1975-76), Cindy Sherman: Western New York Collections will include works by Cindy Sherman which are in public and private collections in Western New York including the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Burchfield-Penney Art Center and Castellani Art Museum.
About the Burchfield-Penney Art Center
The Burchfield-Penney Art Center is a museum dedicated to the art and vision of Charles E. Burchfield and distinguished artists of Buffalo Niagara and Western New York State. Through its affiliation with Buffalo State College, the museum encourages learning and celebrates our richly creative and diverse community. For more information, call (716) 878-6011 or visit www.burchfield-penney.com.
The Burchfield-Penney Art Center is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is supported in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and Erie County. Additional operating support is provided by the Elizabeth Elser Doolittle Trust, the James Carey Evans Endowment, the Mary A. H. Rumsey Foundation and charitable contributions by museum members and visitors.
The Unseen Cindy Sherman: Early Transformations (1975-1976) is supported by the Collectors Forum of the Montclair Art Museum. Additional support for the exhibition catalog, a co-publication with Smart Art Press, Santa Monica, CA, was provided by Judith Targan, gifts to the Ann and Mel Schaffer Tribute Fund, and Beth and George Meredith. All Montclair Art Museum programs are made possible, in part, by the New Jersey State Council onthe Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agencyof the Natil Endowment for the Arts and by funds from the National Endowment for the Arts; Judy and Josh Weston, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; and Museum members.
The Unseen Cindy Sherman: Early Transformations (1975-76) brings together a previously unknown selection of works by leading contemporary artist Cindy Sherman. Culled from family collections, these works comprise early photographs and montages created when the artist was student at Buffalo State College during the mid 1970s, providing the foundation for her emergence as one of the most important artists of her generation. Using herself as the subject of her staged photographs, Sherman explores the myriad constructions of female identity and the body in our popular culture.
"Virtually unknown are a group of early photographic works of 1975-1976, completed when Sherman was a student at Buffalo State College and soon thereafter, with which the artist had already begun to confront the variety of ways in which women and even men are depicted in America's mass media, image saturated society," writes Gail Stavitsky, chief curator at the Montclair Art Museum and organizer of The Unseen Cindy Sherman: Early Transformations (1975-76) in her essay which accompanies the exhibition. "These prophetic works parody the styles and conventions of such sources of idealized femininity as women's magazines, old movies, and television. Already, they are not conventional self-portraits but inventions of different characters through varieties of costume, makeup, setting, facial expression and pose, which draw, nonetheless, upon the artist's own experiences and preoccupations. Sherman is her own actress, scenarist, cinematographer, lighting designer, makeup artist, and costumer. Exhibited together as a group for the first time, they provide and opportunity to look anew at Sherman’s work in the fill context of her formative life experiences and artistic influences."
Complementing The Unseen Cindy Sherman: Early Transformations (1975-76), Cindy Sherman: Western New York Collections will include works by Cindy Sherman which are in public and private collections in Western New York including the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Burchfield-Penney Art Center and Castellani Art Museum.
About the Burchfield-Penney Art Center
The Burchfield-Penney Art Center is a museum dedicated to the art and vision of Charles E. Burchfield and distinguished artists of Buffalo Niagara and Western New York State. Through its affiliation with Buffalo State College, the museum encourages learning and celebrates our richly creative and diverse community. For more information, call (716) 878-6011 or visit www.burchfield-penney.com.
The Burchfield-Penney Art Center is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is supported in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and Erie County. Additional operating support is provided by the Elizabeth Elser Doolittle Trust, the James Carey Evans Endowment, the Mary A. H. Rumsey Foundation and charitable contributions by museum members and visitors.
The Unseen Cindy Sherman: Early Transformations (1975-1976) is supported by the Collectors Forum of the Montclair Art Museum. Additional support for the exhibition catalog, a co-publication with Smart Art Press, Santa Monica, CA, was provided by Judith Targan, gifts to the Ann and Mel Schaffer Tribute Fund, and Beth and George Meredith. All Montclair Art Museum programs are made possible, in part, by the New Jersey State Council onthe Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agencyof the Natil Endowment for the Arts and by funds from the National Endowment for the Arts; Judy and Josh Weston, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; and Museum members.
Media Contact:
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