Narrator

Curator Eva Respini.

Eva Respini

In the late 1980s and mid-1990s, Sherman removed herself from her photographs. After many years of being her own model she was sick of using herself and she wanted to try to see what it would be like to create a scenario for the camera without having to always pose.

Narrator

Cindy Sherman.

Cindy Sherman archival audio

I just was nervous that I was too dependent on myself, and so I wanted to see if I could still tell a story or make an image without depending on myself. But it was much harder—and that’s when I started using the mannequins and masks and things like that.

Eva Respini

She created grotesque scenarios that suggest very dark narratives. Here you have cupcakes and other sweets which have been half-eaten and then discarded on the floor, and then you have some substance which looks like vomit, which suggests a scenario of perhaps bulimia or something gone awry.

Narrator

Several of Sherman’s “Sex Pictures” are also on view in this gallery.

Eva Respini

With the “Sex Pictures” Sherman used dolls that she ordered from medical catalogs. She manipulated the dolls, sometimes combining various parts to create hybrid bodies that wouldn’t exist in the real world. Often she applied makeup to the dolls, as well as fake hair to really create these horrific combinations.