The Cindy Sherman Effect. Identity and Transformation in Contemporary Art Cindy Sherman became known in the 1980s for her „Untitled Film Stills“. In these photographs she performed various roles in which she challenged the portrait as a concept as well as constructions of gender and stereotypes about culture, gender and identity. In the exhibition The Cindy Sherman Effect. Identity and Transformation in Contemporary Art in the Kunstforum Wien it becomes evident how much following generations of artists are indebted to Sherman’s ground-breaking work about issues like identity and transformation. In the group exhibition, works by the American artist (*1954) are confronted with those by 21 contemporary artists, her role as a pioneer becomes obvious when contemplating the total of 80 exhibits in the show. For her presentation, curator Bettina Busse inversed the usual spatial arrangement. This time the exhibition does not start in the large columned entrance hall, instead the beginning of the show is in the rooms behind the bookshop, which is where the entrance is located now. In the exhibition halls, video work by Ryan Trecartin, Candice Breitz and Pipilotti Rist or photographs by Tejal Shah, Catherine Opeis and Zanele Muholi demonstrate in direct comparison with works by Cindy Sherman where the aesthetic and thematic overlappings can be identified. One of the exhibition’s conclusions seems to be that art is -to a large extent- generated with other art in mind. The exhibition continues un the Kunstforum Vienna until June 21, 2020. (Text written by Cem Angeli) A CastYourArt Production | www.castyourart.com