Artist Series: Spotlight on some of my favorite photography and video artists
From Cindy Sherman, Mika Rottenberg, Ragnar Kjartansson to Martin Parr
Hi dear Internet Friends,
I hope you are doing well. I am okay, it makes me very sad to follow the political developments first in America and now in Germany. Please vote!
I want to talk about some fun things, to lift myself up: Today’s feature is concentrated on some of my favourites artists who create works with video as well as photography. For this edition I concentrated on the artists Cindy Sherman, Mika Rottenberg, Ragnar Kjartansson and Martin Parr. They are all quite famous of course and their work has left a huge impact on my aesthetic taste and inspiration. Therefore I really wanted to deep dive into their profiles and most important works, find the best documentaries to understand their work - as a note, I watched them all from start to end to see if they are worth it - the ones which are linked definitely are worth it :)
Good things from this week:
I am currently reading The Andy Warhol Diaries edited by Pat Hackett - but have to admit I am getting by very slowly, somehow my mind is not so able to concentrate at the moment. My best friend Madeleine sent me the memoir From Here To The Great Unknown by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough which I will read next - will keep you posted!
At the sad occasion of the death of the director David Lynch NTS did a special “Sounds on Screen” , which are a collection of soundtracks, scores and sounds from some of the most important artists in film, on David Lynch, which is beautiful to listen to.
Remember my Vibram toe shoes from 2024? This kind of shoe will be pretty big in 2025, together with the general no-shoe trend, probably kind of born from the love for Tabis. I really like the Vibrams, you have to style them right but if you do, they are really cool plus super comfortable. Vogue just published an article about the shoe here, I can’t wait to wear them again in Spring!
Sam Youkilis will have an exhibition in Berlin at CO Gallery which is starting tomorrow - I definitely want to see it. He has really managed to find his very own way of showing every day situations which have been copied hundreds of times.
Artist Series: Spotlight on some of my favorite photography and video artists
Not all artists and exhibitions leave a lasting impact, but when they do, they really do. I have seen some exhibitions during my travels but also in Berlin which I have never forgotten, and which have left a lasting impression. I wanted to share these with you, as it’s the most beautiful thing to step by step learn more about an artist and keep seeing their work around the world, creating a complete puzzle of who they are and what their oevre is. I looked for the best documentaries and watched them all as well, such a nice thing to spend a rainy weekend with - today it’s Sunday, it’s raining, and we haven’t left the house - instead I was baking and watching documentaries for this article.
Cindy Sherman, Photographer
Born 1954 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, now lives in NYC. Represented by Hauser & Wirth
As a child, Cindy Sherman was given a pile of vintage clothes by her great-grandmother from the 1920s which turned out to become a key moment in her life. It made her understand the power of transformation and to impersonate different egos. From this moment on, Sherman started to add more to her vintage collection from vintage shops, to which she later added with makeup, prosthetics and wigs. She said: “I wish I could treat every day as Halloween, and get dressed up and go out into the world as some eccentric character.” Her work often is published in series, improvising on themes such as centerfolds (1981) and society portraits (2008). Her series Untitled #216 from 1981 shows her use of theatrical effects to step into different roles and how she purposely showed lack of effort: A slipping wig, badly done make-up, prostestics which are not fitted properly. She highlights the artificiality of these fabrications, a metaphor for the artificiality of all identity construction. She has collaborated with various luxury fashion brands such as Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton, Comme des Garçons - an example below, Supreme and many more. I saw a fantastic solo show on Cindy Sherman at Deichtorhallen in 2023 -
I loved this video which was also from the Youtube MoMa channel, where one of the photography series is analysed by Eva Respini, who used to be a curator at Moma - getting more background information is really great to understand how Sherman works and helps to look at her work with so much more depth.
Oliviero Toscani, Photographer
Born 1942 in Milan and passed 2024 in Cecina, Italy
