The Museum of Contemporary Art of Montenegro (MCAM) announces the opening of the exhibition of Cindy Sherman “Untitled: Critical act” at Petrović’s Palace on April 9th at 7:00 PM. 

This exhibition marks the first presentation of Sherman’s work in Montenegro and the wider region, offering audiences a rare opportunity to engage with one of the most influential figures in contemporary photography.

Curated by Gunnar B. Kvaran, Milica Bezmarević, and Blanka Marković, the exhibition focuses on three major series — Untitled Film Stills, Centerfolds, and Faces — tracing Sherman’s ongoing investigation into identity, representation, and the cultural construction of the self. 

In Untitled Film Stills, Sherman performs female roles shaped by Hollywood cinema and popular media, using theatricality and expressive gestures to reveal how societal expectations define and frame identity. The Centerfolds series shifts inward, presenting vulnerable and introspective young women whose posture, gaze, and surrounding context convey subtle psychological states, exploring the tension between private experience and public representation. Her Faces series employs digital manipulation and collage to fragment and transform faces and bodies into surreal, grotesque, or comical masks, demonstrating the fluid and performative nature of identity in contemporary visual culture. 

Together, these series offer a critical reflection on the complex interplay of appearance, perception, and identity, marking a unique opportunity to encounter Sherman’s work in the region for the first time. 

This landmark exhibition further reaffirms MCAM’s commitment to presenting internationally significant artists and fostering critical dialogue within the field of contemporary art. Cindy Sherman was born in 1954 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey; she lives and works in New York. 

For over four decades, her groundbreaking photographs have interrogated themes of representation and identity in contemporary media. Sherman first turned her attention to photography while studying art at Buffalo State College in the early 1970s, and she rose to prominence in the late 1970s as part of the Pictures Generation. 

Utilising prosthetics, theatrical effects, photographic techniques, and digital technologies, Sherman has channelled and reconstructed personas embedded in the collective psyche—often in unsettling ways—while exploring the grotesque and abject dimensions of human experience. Her later series have further expanded this inquiry to address issues ranging from class and social status to aging and self-image.  

Cindy Sherman, Untitled #646, 2023. Gelatin silver print and chromogenic color print, 101.6 x 75. 9 cm. © 2026 Cindy Sherman / Artist Rights Society (ARS), NY. Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth.