One global pandemic ago, Cindy Sherman’s annual holiday party was a winter shindig the art world could always count on—like death and taxes, but fun. Once a year, a veritable who’s who of artists, museum directors, art dealers, collectors, critics, actors, fashion designers, and publicists gathered in the esteemed photographer’s home for delectable finger foods and truly off-the-clock gossip. After a five-year hiatus, Sherman is reviving the holiday festivities with something new: kitschy Christmas cards featuring five new works.
As part of the recently founded Cindy Sherman Legacy Project, Lumi Tan, curator of Frieze New York’s Focus section and former senior curator at the Kitchen, is organizing a series of publications and products drawing from Sherman outtakes. First up? A new series of portraits that used face-tuning A.I. algorithms, not to trim and plump, but to Picasso-ify the artist’s face. In line with the collection of collages Sherman presented at Hauser & Wirth this past winter—complete with noirish black-and-white, bulbous eyeballs—Sherman’s distorted holiday style looks a bit less Santa Claus and a bit more Italian Christmas witch La Befana.
“I’ve been wanting to do something with these holiday characters who seem like they’ve had a little too much fun and thought the cards were perfect for people fed up with holiday madness or just wanting something different,” Sherman told CULTURED. “When I heard about Transanta, their mission to help trans youth and their families struggling this time of year, I knew it was the perfect match for this project.”
All proceeds from the holiday cards (and future projects from the Cindy Sherman Legacy Project) will go to support causes close to the artist. This one will donate funds to the trans-led mutual aid project—founded by lawyer Chase Strangio, actress Indya Moore, and program director Kyle Lasky—which supports unhoused or unsupported trans youth. You can grab your own set there, through the artist’s website, or at Hauser & Wirth’s New York bookstore.
If that’s not enough, Sherman will be reviving her annual holiday bash with a launch party on Dec. 9 at Jean’s in New York.
in your life?
