Cindy Sherman, the American artist who has for four decades been transforming herself into unsettling characters who might be matinee stars, girls next door or Republican wives, is to receive her first UK retrospective at the National Portrait Gallery (NPG).

The gallery said about 180 works would be exhibited, including an important series of works produced by Sherman in her 20s, going on display in the UK for the first time, which helped make her name and define her approach.

Sherman is known for her photographs of her dressed-up self in which she masquerades as all manner of characters.

Untitled Film Still #15, 1978. Photograph: Courtesy of the artist and Metro Pictures, New York

Paul Moorhouse, the show’s curator, described her art as “completely distinctive”, which explored contemporary life and exposed its deceptions.

“By inventing fictitious characters and photographing herself in imaginary situations, she inhabits a world of pure appearance. No other artist interrogates the illusions presented by modern culture in such a penetrating way – or scrutinises so tellingly the facades that people adopt.”



Moorhouse said he had worked closely with Sherman but was given free rein on what work to include.

Among the highlights of the London show will be Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills series, which she started in her 20s shortly after moving to New York in 1977.

The 70 black and white images of herself in poses from fictional 1950s and 60s films, whether as lonely housewife or vamp, cheap B-movie or European arthouse, are regarded as her first major artistic statement. The series, which attracted international interest and established Sherman as a major emerging talent, has never been displayed in the UK.

“What she was really saying was that all of life is an appearance,” said Moorhouse. “And what are we to make of these appearances? What meanings do we attach?”

The exhibition will also include all five images from her Cover Girl series, completed when she was a student in 1976. The images, which include Sherman as Jerry Hall on the front cover of Vogue, will be displayed together for the first time.



Cover Girl (Vogue), 1975/2011, in which Sherman dressed up as Jerry Hall. Photograph: Courtesy of the artist and Metro Pictures, New York

The NPG said there would be works from Sherman’s most important series including Rear Screen Projections, Centerfolds, Fairy Tales, Sex Pictures, Masks, Headshots, Clowns and Society Portraits.

The National Gallery will lend its prized portrait of Madame Moitessier by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres to display alongside Sherman’s version, which was part of her History Portraits series.

Moorhouse will visit Sherman’s studio in October to choose source material that inspires her work, as well as wigs, costumes and prosthetics to shine light on her working process.

The show will open with new, as-yet-unseen, work from Sherman in which she explores ageing and how we try – often unsuccessfully and absurdly – to fight against it.

Nicholas Cullinan, the NPG director, said Sherman’s portraits felt more prescient and relevant than ever in the era of social media and selfies.

“Comprising key works from Sherman’s most important series together with new and unseen work, the exhibition will place her art within the context of portraiture, exploring the often complex and ambiguous relationship between appearance and reality.”

• Cindy Sherman will be at the National Portrait Gallery from 27 June to 15 September 2019.