Cindy Sherman

Untitled #188, 1989

http://www.kultur-online.net/files/architecture/04_698.jpg

Cindy Sherman’s constructed scenes such as untitled #188 talk about how females have traditionally been seen by men.. Her work influenced mine as her photographs have a sense of mystery by her staged settings and how she challenges stereotypes. In my photographs by using everyday domestic objects and changing the way they are placed in a domestic scene I am also challenging stereotypes of how things are supposed to be which makes the images appear odd and possibly confusing.

In Cindy Sherman’s photograph "untitled #188" the work is a response to world situations and therefore have international significance in their expression of contemporary issues.

Her artwork deals with the way females have been traditionally seen and treated by males, questioning the essence and appearance, expressing the malleability of identity. The images in her photograph is of women (note that all her work don’t include males)

In post modernism terms Cindy Sherman works with the notion of contradictory messages known as \\\'double coding\\\'. She confronts representation and reality of the world.

The doll in her photograph \\\"untitled #188\\\" is partly hidden amongst human debris which is a surrogate symbol of the violence that men inflict on women. Its pointy breast represents the dolls sexuality. The way the body is positioned and the smearing of lipstick on the dolls face show sexual activity. The opening mouth and the staring eyes reminds us of the \\\'demoiselle in distress we see in those old movies were the lady is tied to a railway track. The diagonal positioning of and the smoothness of the plastic adds drama. The doll has been abandoned and no longer in use.

  The artwork questions our perceptions of reality while challenging us on social and gender issues of everyday life. This artwork isn’t just an image of horror but of also humor - since this is only a girl’s plaything

http://essayfarm.com/view.php?id=24491&title=Cindy%20Sherman