Today we were discussing art inspired by art and I was particularly taken with the work of Cindy Sherman in the presentation. This is an unusual piece of work by the photographer as although it fits into here oeuvre of recreation of classic shots as in Film Stills. In those works she was every kind of woman and was visually discussing the role of women in society. In this shot the Museum of Modern Art states; 'It's different from some of the other works in the series that may be more caricatured. In this one we see this mimicking of the original painting much more clearly.' (Cindy Sherman. Untitled #224. 1990. | MoMA, 2022).
In the series History Portraits/Old Masters (1988-1990) this was the first time Sherman took on the roles of men in her images and in this image; 'Caravaggio's painting is believed to be a self-portrait of the artist as the Roman god of wine, Bacchus. Right here. she's a female artist as a male artist as the Roman god of wine.' (Ciné-club : Untitled #224 de Cindy Sherman, 2022). Sherman used her usual method of costumes, makes and in this case prothesis to recreate the image. Sherman chose the image of the sick Bacchus here, for reasons we might never know, however the change of gender and the use of photography have heightened this recreation into something reimagined.
The image I have chosen is an image from the Poughkeepsie Journal, Untitled (1999)
Katy Grannan took intimate portraits of strangers, her imagery 'relies on documentary photography as a point of reference in order to merge reality and fiction, while capturing the subtleties of her sitters’ psychologies.' (Untitled (from the Poughkeepsie Journal) | The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation, 2022). Katy Grannan is an American artist who finds her subjects through newspaper advertisements The images portray the subjects how they want to be seen and Grannan has a sensitivity that allows the sitter to express themselves and the subsequent image 'is imbued with secrecy, desire, and hidden intentions' (Katy Grannan | Fraenkel Gallery, 2022)
What does the artwork make you think of?
This artwork makes me think of the girl's vulnerability and perhaps I related to this image as I felt very vulnerable at a similar age. I really enjoyed the shot with eth low angle and the camera just lifting to her face. The bedroom/living room that she is in has a very soft and feminine feel maybe why she felt comfortable taking the shot in her own home and surroundings. The white of her bra gently matched the white/creams in the room and her blond hair was the same colour as the soft wood. Beautifully lit the girl is alone and there is a beauty to her innocence.
What do you think you could do to reimagine this work?
I would like to recreate this in my own home setting, I would use myself as the model and perhaps look at either changing the colours to see the effect - what if the girl is wearing black or red would this make her less innocent or perhaps instead of the small tampon string there is something larger and more obvious emerging from her intimate places. I would lie to recreate the pose though - I do think the answer will be in the environment and the mode/colour of the dress.
What medium or method might you use?
I will use photography - however, it could be interesting to recreate this as a painting. I will think about this further and I will definitely try out drawing painting the shot as I think this could lead to more interesting thoughts about the image.
Planning
I will need to do this in the daytime in my own home using natural light. I will think about the dress and environment and will use different clothes but I want to take the same pose so that it does pay homage to the original. I will be using my Olympus camera and tripod with self-timer to take this and will add my contacts and test shots in the next post.
References
The Museum of Modern Art. 2022. Cindy Sherman. Untitled #224. 1990. | MoMA. [online] Available at: https://www.moma.org/audio/playlist/261/3365 [Accessed 4 April 2022].
Cineclubdecaen.com. 2022. Ciné-club : Untitled #224 de Cindy Sherman. [online] Available at: https://www.cineclubdecaen.com/photographie/photographes/sherman/untitled224.htm [Accessed 4 April 2022].
The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation. 2022. Untitled (from the Poughkeepsie Journal) | The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation. [online] Available at: https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/9363 [Accessed 4 April 2022].
Fraenkel Gallery. 2022. Katy Grannan | Fraenkel Gallery. [online] Available at: https://fraenkelgallery.com/artists/katy-grannan [Accessed 5 April 2022].
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