Cindy Sherman (born January 19, 1954) is an American artist whose work consists primarily of photographic self-portraits, depicting herself in many different contexts and as various imagined characters. Sherman is famous for her use of make-up, costumes, props and prosthetics to create complex and ambiguous photographic images. She invents fictitious characters, photographing herself in imaginary situations, inhabiting a world of pure appearance.​

The artist has created a groundbreaking body of work that explores the nature of representation and the ways in which the images of film, television, and advertising influence our understanding of our identity and of the world around us. Employing elaborate makeup, costumes, and props to transform herself, Sherman creates “portraits” that mine the stereotypes and genres of art history and mass media while drawing attention to the power structures that have shaped this imagery.​

Preferring to work in series, Sherman has transformed herself into a wide-range of figures. Notable of these is her series of “Centerfolds,” begun in 1981 which, like the “Film Stills,” subvert stereotypical tropes of femininity by presenting characters in the horizontal centerfold format who are uncharacteristically fully clothed and lost in deep contemplation. Sherman’s series of “History Portraits” (1988-1990) depict her as pastiches of old master paintings, while her “Society Portraits,” begun in 2008, see her embodying the archetypes of aging wealthy women.​

​Sherman’s work is often credited as a major influence for contemporary portrait photographers. Today, the artist’s work is held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago; the Broad Museum, Los Angeles; the Jewish Museum, New York; the Menil Collection, Houston; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; and Tate Modern, London. In 2012, the Museum of Modern Art in New York hosted a major retrospective of her work. Cindy Sherman currently lives and works in New York, NY.​