(27th May 2011)
I am a massive fan of this Cindy Sherman photograph, which is the stand-out image of her stunning 'Centrefolds' series from 1981.
Untitled photograph by Cindy Sherman
It recently became the most expensive photograph ever when sold for nearly $4million at Christies a couple of weeks ago. Bargain!
In the Roberto Bolano book I'm reading I came across the expression 'from ethics to aesthetics' today - and this picture spans that range of need. Sherman is important both as a feminist critiquing the way women are viewed (in every sense) and refining the visual language of a medium in the process. A lot of her later work fails to engage in the same way but her place is assured and the money has been well spent.
I recently became (more) aware of Japanese artist Yasumasa Morimura, of a similar age to Sherman, who as part of his own work emulates the most iconic images of women from art history including self-portraits by women artists (painters, mostly) - and usually from the Western canon though he's big on Frida Kahlo - with himself as the sitter. This is his Sherman tribute from 1998
'To My Little Sister for Cindy Sherman' (1998) went for $31,000 (also at Christies) nearly a decade ago.
I'd like them both, please. On facing walls in my bedroom