Around Town: Sherman shows an evolving world
The Broad, the new contemporary art museum in Downtown L.A., is preparing for a new installation. According to the Broad, “‘Cindy Sherman: Imitation of Life’ is the first major museum show of Sherman’s work in Los Angeles in nearly 20 years.”
The exhibit will include 120 works by the artist. Most are from the collection of Edythe and Eli Broad; others are on loan from other institutions.
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Sherman, a New York-based artist, is better known on the East Coast. L.A.’s MOCA ran an exhibit in late 1997, describing Sherman’s work in relation to “feminist art history.” To say that Sherman is known for photographing herself in different costumes and guises, which allows her to address female stereotypes in art history, and current media, marketing and film, is a limited characterization.
It goes deeper. For example, Sherman’s “Untitled #228,” an 82-by-48-inch “chromogenic” color print shows Sherman dressed as the Biblical heroine Judith, holding the severed head of Holofernes.
Judith, the story goes, lived in Bethulia, a town in ancient Israel, which was under siege by the Assyrians. To save her people, she entered the tent of the enemy general, Holofernes, socialized with him, gave him alcohol and, when he passed out, cut off his head, thus saving the Jewish people.
For centuries, artists have been fascinated with the story. From Donatello’s bronze sculpture of “Judith and Holofernes,” to a myriad of paintings by Botticelli, Titian, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Rubens, Michelangelo (she’s in the corner of the Sistine chapel, with the head discreetly in a basket), and, in modern times, Klimt. In some works, Judith is nude, in others she is clothed. Sometimes the head is still in her hand. In some, she is a heroine. In others, she had fallen from grace. Her image shifts, changes and continues to inspire.
The story of Judith can be troubling, and these depictions of Judith reflect our changing vision of women, not only in art, but in society.
In “Untitled #228,” Sherman, as Judith, is dressed in a satin robe that makes her look pregnant. She looks boldly out at us. She holds the severed head of the enemy in one hand and a dagger in the other. Quite a different Judith than that imagined by Caravaggio.
It is interesting that Edythe and Eli Broad, who discovered Sherman 39 years ago, have decided to feature her work in this election year. Sherman’s Judith fits with this year’s insane election, replete with iconic women candidates, equally iconic spouses of the male candidates (the career woman, the model, the activist, the homemaker), repeated dust-ups with female reporters, and the inevitable re-emergence of Monica Lewinsky and Juanita Broaddrick.
Like them or not, they are icons. The trouble with an icon is that it is one-dimensional. And yet, this is a great time to be a woman, especially in California. We have more educational opportunities, better healthcare and economic flexibility than in any other generation. It’s not perfect, but I’d rather raise a daughter here, with the San Gabriels to our north and the metropolis below, than in New York, Riyad or London.
The dilemma in raising a strong young woman is self-identity. Will La Cañada’s daughters be limited by the images they see in marketing, political campaigns and entertainment media? Or will they become sophisticated consumers of all that the beautiful yet imperfect world has to offer?
If you want to give your daughter a broader perspective, take her to the Cindy Sherman exhibit. Tickets ($12) went on sale this week. The exhibit will run from June 11 to Oct. 2.
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ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Contact her atanitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com. Follow her on Instagram @realanitabrenner,Facebook and on Twitter @anitabrenner.