Review of Cindy Sherman's book: Retrospective - By Emily Tweedie

Review of Cindy Sherman's book: Retrospective

By Emily Tweedie

Cover of Cindy Sherman's Retrospective

     In this essay I will be writing a short review on Cindy Sherman's Book Retrospective.

 I would first put this book into a fantasy category. The purpose of Sherman's book is to show the expectations of society such as people's fears. She also does some exploration of the body with her later work. 

    Her work fits into the genre of fantasy with her earlier work when she dresses up and impersonates celebrities which the average "house wife" who is stuck at home looking after the children while doing the house work, would look up too and aspire to be. As well as her later work where she creates living monstrosities with manikins.  

   The introduction of Sherman's book is very successful with telling the audience what Sherman wanted to portray within her work. 

   The book is laid out in a very linear way. It's starts with an explanation of twenty years of Cindy Sherman's life. Giving the viewer very detailed information about Cindy Sherman and her work. After the text, it starts with Sherman's earlier work of her dressing up/impersonating celebrities on plates. All these photographs are in black and white. Then it comes to her more recent work which may be seen as very grotesque and can be quite uncomfortable to look at. Sherman creates rather sinister and physiological work which press on issues within society. 

Cindy Sherman: Plate 14
Untitled Film Still 1978

Cindy Sherman: Plate 143
Untitled #314E 1994

Finally, Sherman clearly shows the cultural conditions within her work. In her earlier work, it's clear to see that society was still a sex oriented time- where women would stay at home and look after the children, while the man of the house would go out to work and be the "bread winner". With her later work, she shows how the society is a very image-based place. She also presses on issues such as the male gaze by putting manikins in certain positions.

Amada Cruz, Elizabeth A. T. Smith and Amelia Jones, First Published 1997, Retrospective, Cindy Sherman.