Sherman, one of the most significant artists of our time, has had a lasting influence on 20th-century art with her photographs. The Sammlung Goetz owns an extensive collection from nearly all phases of Sherman’s career, which spans more than 50 years. In almost all of Sherman’s series, clothing and disguise are essential components of her artistic staging strategy.
Between 1983 and 1994, the artist devoted herself explicitly to the visual language of the fashion world and clothing as her motif. Sherman’s photographs do not reproduce images of idealized female beauty. Instead, in her fashion series, she reveals the grotesque theatricality of characters and bodies. The images appear to be parodies of classic fashion photography, leading them to be described as anti-fashion. In her photographs from the 1990s, the protagonists recede into the background once again, while stereotypical figures and the clothing itself take center stage. In addition to her work series that explore fashion as a theme, Sherman has published numerous photographs outside the context of art and produced photo spreads for fashion magazines and brands, including an advertising campaign for the New York high-end boutique Dianne Benson (1983), a campaign for Comme des Garçons (1994), and advertising for a product collection by MAC Cosmetics (2011).
The exhibition at the Sammlung Goetz /Schaufenster presents a selection of works from Sherman’s fashion series, supplemented by photographs from other work groups in the collection.
Curatedy by Karsten Löckemann (Chief curator Sammlung Goetz) and Anna Reimnitz (Research Trainee)
