The Easel

The ‘Real’ Cindy Sherman

An avalanche of reviews of Sherman’s Paris retrospective mostly just state the obvious. This one does better. Of course her work explores identity, but is that all? For some of her characters -aging female socialites, for example – the use of disguise works to expose rather than conceal. “The whole range of injustices that age has imprinted on their faces and bodies suggest an underlying melancholy … you see [them] vulnerable and exposed.”