What's up! trouvaillesdujour: Cindy Sherman; Chanel Revisited

In this photographic series, American photographer Cindy Sherman exhibits new, large-scale works that depict enigmatic female figures standing in striking landscapes, and wearing vivid Chanel costumes. Rather than staging scenes in her studio or using projected images, the dramatic settings were all photographed by Sherman and then manipulated in Photoshop to achieve a painterly effect.

Sherman's self-portraits are based on an insert she did for Dasha Zhukova's magazine using clothes from Chanel's archive. The images published were significantly altered as Sherman developed the series for this exhibition. Wearing early haute couture pieces from the 1920s designed by Coco Chanel to more recent Karl Lagerfeld collections, she selected eccentric, often fantastical, outfits before pairing them with images she shot in Iceland during a 2010 volcanic eruption and the isle of Capri. While the series recalls photography's early mission to map the "new world," Sherman's analysis equally references the tradition of 19th century landscape painting, where lonely figures are dominated by the magnificent nature that surrounds them. The artist's looming characters however reverse this heavenly view by relegating nature to the supporting role.

Cindy Sherman's new series is currently showing at Metro Pictures Gallery, New York.
April 28 - June 9, 2012

Cindy Sherman