“For the clowns, I started trying to imagine what the personality was underneath the makeup. What would bring somebody to want to be a clown? Is it just purely to make kids laugh? Or is it something else—is it a darker, seedier thing? Some of the snapshots of clowns I found online were these kind of seedy, sweaty-looking men. When I started doing this series I started thinking of clowns as a whole race of people, but people just like anyone else. I thought I should do a housewife clown, a clown at the gym. . . I was trying to think of everyday shots of clowns just going about life."
Originally conceived when she was invited to guest edit British Vogue in 2003, Sherman’s bold Clowns series consists of 18 portraits in which the photographer pantomimes before the camera, embodying a host of American phobias and personalities. Inspired by circus posters, Sherman disguised herself with heavy maquillage and camp clothes. In these arresting portraits, Sherman exaggerates the contemporary popular depiction of the clown, with a painted face that obscures his or her true emotion. As she explained in a 2004 interview, her ‘pictures are supposed to look as if they were simply cut out of an advertisement for a circus, with a stiff and artificial pose to sell the idea of the funny clown although [my] clowns are anything but funny’ (Cindy Sherman, as quoted in 'No Make-Up. An Interview with Cindy Sherman, by Isabelle Graw,' Cindy Sherman: Clowns, 2004, p. 55).
In many ways, the clown theme was an inevitable chapter in Sherman’s decades-long practice of exploring her brand of pseudo-self-portraiture through disguises, exaggeration, and blurred gender lines. The clown, traditionally a male figure, is frequently feminized in Sherman’s images. The central figure in Untitled #425 clearly has breasts, while the three other characters, depicted as floating heads, are seemingly androgynous. As in her earlier series, Sherman remains just visible enough underneath her clown makeup and costumes, yet she is barely recognizable.
While Sherman had long sought to incorporate more than one character in a single image, Clowns marked the first time that she fully embraced technology to acquire the desired multi-figural results. By shooting each character on slide film and later adding in the psychedelic backgrounds, she was able to decide whether to include one or more clowns in each scene. The inclusion of multiple figures in Untitled #425 further enhances the fantastical qualities of this monumental work. The three clowns in the foreground seem to be plotting not only against the clown in the middle, but also against the viewer as they stare right at us, smiling and laughing. That the central clown is pictured from head to toe and lacking the flamboyant costumes worn by many of Sherman’s other clowns is even more intriguing. Instead, she wears a striped onesie reminiscent of children’s sleepwear or old-fashioned undergarments. But where are her shoes? And why the gardening gloves? Perhaps most troubling of all, why isn’t she smiling like her fellow clowns? The scene is uneasy and trippy, mesmerizing and multi-layered, yet devoid of any true narrative.
Sherman has said that Clowns was one of her most challenging series because she wanted each character to look entirely unique and not like portraits of herself underneath piles of makeup and clothes. One thing is certain: Sherman’s examination of emotions through costumes, makeup, and disguises, as well as facial expressions and gestures remains unparalleled. Her newfound ability to multiply herself marked the beginning of exciting new technological experiments that she continues to play with today.
The series was first exhibited at Metro Pictures in New York in 2004 and quickly became one of her most iconic.