MONTREAL.- The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is presenting About Face, an exhibition of more than sixty photographs by Cindy Sherman, Laurie Simmons and Rachel Harrison, three major American artists whose practice is deeply engaged with the history of the representation of women. Works in the exhibition are drawn from the collection of Carol and David Appel, who are prominent collectors of international contemporary art in Canada.
Two representatives from the Pictures Generation, Sherman and Simmons, deconstruct how mass media infiltrates the construction of the female identity. The exhibition features Simmons' major work Walking Camera (Jimmy the Camera) II (1987), which ironizes the relationship between photography and the representation of the female body.
Also on view is a rare complete set of Sherman's "Murder Mystery" (1976-2000) series, which includes 17 black and white photographs in which the artist transforms herself into a multitude of characters from novels and puzzles. The exhibition also includes examples from other series including "Untitled Film Stills" (1977–80). – widely regarded as one of the twentieth century's most important photographic bodies of work –, "Society Portraits" (2008) and "History Portraits" (1988–90), in which the artist embodies a multitude of characters.
Their work is set in dialogue with one of Harrison's most important photographic projects, Voyage of the Beagle (2007). This work constitutes a photographic journey into the history of sculptural representations of the body – both human and animal – ranging from ancient menhirs to taxidermy deer, to modern-day mannequins. The photographs by Harrison, Sherman and Simmons force us to recognize that the deeper reality is always beyond the face of the image, outside the frame, in the intervening spaces.
"Nothing is more exciting or satisfying for us as collectors than being able to share with the public the expression of our vision for our art collection. This exhibition represents a true meeting of the minds, reflecting so well the journey we have travelled with the three featured artists, who are very important to us," said collectors Carol and David Appel.
"We thank Carol and David Appel, steadfast friends and sophisticated collectors, for allowing us to discover these works from their collection. Simmons, Sherman and Harrison challenge the complex mechanisms of the representation of women. Sometimes through parody but always with empathy, their insightful, up-close photography reveals the diversity of canons, the play of appearances, and the distortion of the everyday to ask, What is a woman? In our age dominated by what the media shows us, their photographs become a mirror as the image becomes a screen. Simmons, Sherman and Harrison prescribe timeless visual therapy, as feminist issues about the place of women in society remain hidden. Feeling good in your own skin starts through a critical objectification of the gaze. Learning to see is just as important as learning to read," said Nathalie Bondil, Director General and Chief Curator, MMFA.
"Deeply engaged in the history of representation – the codes and conventions that structure the way we understand the world around us and perceive ourselves – Sherman, Simmons and Harrison use photography to perform an about-face on the medium itself, suggesting that the deepest meaning and the truest self lie always outside the frame," added Mary-Dailey Desmarais, Curator of International Modern and Contemporary Art, MMFA.
