Serpentine Gallery

CINDY SHERMAN

3 June - 25 August 2003
Open daily 10am - 6pm. Admission free.

Cindy Sherman is one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century. This survey exhibition, her first in the United Kingdom for almost ten years, brings together over fifty works which span the artist’s career and include new work shown here for the first time.




Untitled #302 1993
Colour photograph
172.1 x 114.3
Collection Olbricht
Photograph courtesy of the artist and Metro Pictures
© 2003 Cindy Sherman

The exhibition centres on the many ‘characters’ and ‘portraits’ Sherman has created over the past three decades. Since the mid-1970s, she has been taking photographs of herself, combining the roles of director, photographer and leading actress to create provocative and intriguing images in both black-and-white and colour.

Sherman first became known for her late 1970s series Untitled Film Stills, black-and-white photographs in which she mimicked both the characters and settings of imaginary 1950s and 60s Hollywood B-movies. This was followed by her work in the 1980s in colour making reference to fashion photography, television, horror movies and porn. In 1989-90 her history portraits played off old master paintings, re-interpreting issues of gender and status, and idealisation versus reality in traditional portraiture. In her newest work, featured at the Serpentine Gallery for the first time, Sherman says that she uses clowns ‘as a trigger for showing the multi-layered emotional depths within a painted smile’.

Born in 1954 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, Cindy Sherman has won numerous awards. Her work is included in major private and public collections throughout the world.

This exhibition, organised by the Serpentine Gallery, will be presented at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh from 6 December 2003 to 7 March 2004.

Cindy Sherman is sponsored by FCUK. Media Partner The Observer.

Cindy Sherman Billboard Commission, 5 June – 8 September 2003
Platform 4, Gloucester Road Tube Station, London SW7 4SF
Open Monday - Saturday 5.15 am – 12.45 am, Sunday 6.45 am – 12.15 am. Admission free for London Underground passengers.

Cindy Sherman has made 10 large-scale photographs for display on Platform 4 at London’s Gloucester Road Underground station, in a commission by the Serpentine Gallery and London Underground. This is Sherman’s first billboard project, timed to coincide with the exhibition of her work at the Serpentine Gallery. It is also the first collaboration between the Serpentine and the London Underground. The billboard images are specially produced versions of works from the past two decades and will be seen by 3 million Underground passengers. This collaboration with the Serpentine marks the new season of events and initiatives within London Underground's Platform for Art programme, as well as the continuing expansion of the Serpentine's Exhibition, Architecture and Education Programmes beyond the confines of the Gallery.

Untitled #225 1989
Colour photograph
121.9 x 83.8 cm
The Broad Art Foundation
Photograph courtesy of the artist and Metro Pictures
© 2003 Cindy Sherman

Public Information: Tel: 020 7298 1515 or visit www.serpentinegallery.org

CINDY SHERMAN BILLBOARD COMMISSION

Serpentine Gallery in collaboration with London Underground,
3 June - 8 September 2003
Platform 4, Gloucester Road Underground station, London SW7

Monday - Saturday 5.15 am – 12.45 am, Sunday 6.45 am – 12.15 am.
Admission free for Tube passengers.

Internationally-renowned artist Cindy Sherman has made 10 large-scale photographs for display on Platform 4 at London’s Gloucester Road Underground Station, in a commission by the Serpentine Gallery and London Underground. This is Sherman’s first billboard project, timed to coincide with the exhibition of her work at the Serpentine Gallery. It is also the first collaboration between the Serpentine and the London Underground.

The billboard images are specially produced versions of works from the past two decades and will be seen by 3 million Tube passengers. This collaboration (5 June – 8 September 2003) with the Serpentine marks the new season of events and initiatives within London Underground's Platform for Art programme, as well as the continuing expansion of the Serpentine's Exhibition, Architecture and Education Programmes beyond the confines of the Gallery.

Press enquiries: Annabel Friedlein at the Serpentine Gallery Tel: 020 7298 1520, or e-mail annabelf@serpentinegallery.org, or Tamsin Dillon at London Underground Tel: 020 7918 4625, e-mail tamsin.dillon@thetube.com

About the Cindy Sherman exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery,
3 June - 25 August 2003: This survey exhibition, Sherman’s first in the United Kingdom for almost ten years, brings together over fifty works which span the artist's career and include new work shown for the first time. The exhibition centres on the many 'characters' and 'portraits' Sherman has created over the past three decades. Since the mid-1970s, she has been taking photographs of herself, combining the roles of director, photographer and leading actress to create provocative and intriguing images in both black-and-white and colour. Born in 1954 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, Cindy Sherman has won numerous awards. Her work is included in major private and public collections throughout the world.

Cindy Sherman Sponsored by FCUK, Media Partner The Observer