9.1

Middle Years Activity

Portrait, Self-Portrait or Role-Play?

Cindy SHERMAN - Untitled, #112 1982

Cindy SHERMAN
American 1954–
Untitled, #112 1982
colour photograph, AP 1/2
117.8 x 81.3 x 6.4 cm
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Purchased with funds contributed by the International Director’s Council and Executive Committee Members: Eli Broad, Elaine Terner Cooper, Ronnie Heyman, J. Tomilson Hill, Dakis Joannou, Barbara Lane, Robert Mnuchin, Peter Norton, Thomas Walther, and Ginny Williams
© Cindy Sherman, courtesy of Metro Pictures, New York
97.4574

 

For

Middle Years Students

Curriculum

Art Creating and Making

Aim

To examine the presentation of people in photography and paint.

Preparation

To do this activity you will need to obtain some artworks and photographs of media personalities. For example:

  • Collect a range of photographs of media personalities, both men and women, from fashion and lifestyle magazines. Do not crop these images.
  • Make colour copies of portrait paintings from the internet or art books.
  • Try to collect artworks of both men and women and artworks from a range of historical periods.
  • Collect a range of photographs of both men and women from current affairs magazines such as Time or Business Review Weekly (BRW).

Paste them in your visual diary so that a comparison of these images can be made.

Discussion Questions
  • What are the differences and similarities between these images?
  • How do these images portray each individual? Is the person real or fictional? Is the image a portrait, a self-portrait or a role-play?
  • Do you think Cindy Sherman's Untitled, #112 1982 is a portrait, a self-portrait or a role play? What similarities and differences can you find between her work and the ones you have found?