Gaze

Men and women have different understandings of their presence within society. A man’s presence is towards gaining power and control, conversely women learn early to think of themselves as objects of the ‘The Male Gaze.’ (Berger 1977). Cindy Sherman (…) says, "I see myself acting all the time in certain ways to certain people." Arguably this reinforces the ‘Male Gaze’ theory. Sherman appears in all of her photographs and has noted, "the makeup becomes paint and my face becomes the canvas." (Kimmelman 1995). In Sherman’s Old Master Portraits, Untitled #222 (1990) a woman is seated on a bed in a darkened room. A conventional pastiche, historically referenced. Tonal contrast brings the figure forward and the lighting gives the image a hard unflattering perspective. It epitomises female objectification from the male gaze. Significantly it also places the bed within the context of a strong presence of the sexual form. Linking the themes of this exhibition we observe the care Sherman has taken with the drapes and other artefacts