Cindy Sherman

An athletic figure with cropped blonde wig, silk jumpsuit, sport socks and trainers, a seated fragile middle-aged dame and a medieval soldier. Just some of the unique characters in Cindy Sherman's latest work. The Untitled (2010) series, made up of five photographic murals, will be on display at the Sprüth Magers London gallery next week.

The first thought with any Sherman is, is it her? Despite the giveaway blank expression, the artist is almost unrecognisable, dressed as various ageing American eccentrics. Although the series follows the trademark Sherman formula — with her as model, in front of backdrops associated with the classical trompe-l’œil interiors of portraiture — there are various new methods at play. The large murals with almost life-size figures, mark a departure within her artistic practice from the format of the framed photograph. It also sees Sherman embracing digital technologies by manipulating the scale of each character, their features, and their surroundings. And, whilst we're used to a heavily made-up Sherman, this time she eschews make-up as part of the 'dress-up'.

Since the mid 1970s, New York based Sherman has used herself as a vehicle for commentary on a variety of issues in the modern world, taking on the role of director, model, stylist, performer and photographer to create an array of intriguing and provocative personas. The only time she took a break was in 1992 when she used doll parts or prosthetic limbs in her Sex Pictures series. Once referred to as a woman of a thousand faces, Sherman has appeared in guises including a blonde victim typical of film noir, a prostitute, a clown and Juergen Teller's other half, as the pair dressed as ironic couples for Marc Jacobs advertising campaigns. Andy Warhol once said she was, "good enough to be a real actress."

In Untitled (2010), each character poses against an incongruous backdrop — a landscape image printed in black and white — reminiscent of toile. A type of decorating pattern frequently used on home furnishings and wallpaper, toile was traditionally used to tell a story, yet the bucolic settings in Sherman’s new work create quite the opposite effect, heightening the ambiguity and alienation of the characters while further complicating the narrative. The monochrome character in the three-figure panel is the only member of the cast to seemingly blend into the background, inviting the viewer into this surreal universe with its backdrop of faux-French décor populated by a rabble of hippy-circus types.

Cindy Sherman at Sprüth Magers London opens on 12 January and runs until 19 February. Sherman will present a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York from 26 February to 4 June 2012.

Text by Laura Bradley