Artist: Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman is globally renowned for her exploration of identity and gender through the performance of meticulously observed personas for the camera. For her first solo exhibition in Spain in over two decades, ‘Cindy Sherman. The Women’ features a selection of the artist’s most iconic bodies of work, dating from the 1970s to 2010s, and emphasising how Sherman revolutionized the role of the camera in artistic practice.

The exhibition includes the groundbreaking ‘Untitled Films Stills’ (1977 – 1980), through which Sherman came to widespread attention as one of the ‘Pictures Generation’, artists whose work responded to the age of mass media and celebrity. This pivotal series will be juxtaposed with Sherman’s large-format portrayals of film stars, starlets, society women and fashionistas, from various series made over subsequent decades, addressing the layered presentation and public perception of femininity.

The exhibition takes its title from the 1936 all-female hit play by Clare Boothe Luce, a merciless ensemble piece about women’s interactions with women, of their own and different classes, and of appearances. As the 20th century cult of fame and celebrity has transitioned into the 21st century context of influencers and social media stars, Sherman’s deconstructions of gender, wealth and privilege remain of acute relevance. This exhibition offers a rare presentation of Sherman’s enduring concern with the interaction between female roles and images, with the diversity of womanhood, and the gaze(s) to which women are relentlessly subjected.

The exhibition will be accompanied by an Education Lab that will take its starting point from the work of both Mika Rottenberg and Cindy Sherman, exploring a shared idea that identity is not static but evolves over time. Our understanding and reading of ourselves and others can be influenced by personal experiences and behaviours, as well as social expectations and influences. The Education Lab will encompass a range of events, performances and activities in collaboration with the Higher School of Dramatic Art of the Balearic Islands (ESADIB) and Trobades & Premis Mediterranis Albert Camus, which will inaugurate its 2025 edition on 9 May at Hauser & Wirth Menorca. The extended events and learning program will feature wider community partners throughout the season, with further details to be announced.