Unique exhibitions about Cindy Sherman and self-portraiture on display at The University of Akron

Two new exhibitions, including one with a focus on iconic photographic artist Cindy Sherman, will open on this week at The University of Akron's (UA) Emily Davis Gallery in Folk Hall, home of the Mary Schiller Myers School of Art.

"Cindy Sherman UnMasked: Photographs by Abe Frajndlich" features work by Frajndlich, also a well-known and highly regarded photographer who is a former UA art faculty member. Frajndlich's images of Sherman, an American artist best known for her works of self-portraiture, were created during photography sessions in Akron in 1984 and in New York in 1987. Many of the photographs on display in the UA show have never been exhibited or published and have never shown as a comprehensive group until now.

Frajndlich's photographs will also appear in a second new exhibit to open this week. "Portrait of the Artist" highlights the self-portraiture work of artists who have ties to Northeast Ohio and UA. The exhibit will feature self-portraits by regional artists including Anna Arnold, Taylor Clapp, Kalia Horner, Nick Lee, Frank Oriti, Anna Young, Katarina Zuder, and UA faculty members Emily Olszewski Ashley Kouri and Clarence Meriweather. Horner, Young, Zuger, Olszewski and Kouri are all UA alumni.

The show will include paintings, drawings and photographs that reflect a variety of responses - from fictional characters to exact depictions - to the idea of self-representation.

The opening reception for both exhibits is from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 9, and is free and open to the public. The Emily Davis Gallery is open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Both shows will close on Wednesday, Nov. 26.

The Frajndlich-Sherman connection

Since the 1970s Frajndlich has worked as a freelance commercial photographer, doing editorial work for several U.S. and European publications, including Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, ArtNews, London Sunday Times, and the New York Times Magazine. After receiving degrees in English literature, Frajndlich studied for several years with master photographers Minor White and Nathan Lyons. His work can be found in museum collections worldwide including Biblioteque Nationale in Paris, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., and regionally at the Akron Art Museum and Cleveland Museum of Art. Frajndlich has been in exhibitions throughout the U.S., Germany, France and Belgium, with recent career retrospectives in Munich and Frankfurt. Frajndlich lives and works in Cleveland.

Frajndlich first met and photographed Sherman - now considered one of the most influential artists in contemporary art - in Akron over the course of a few hours, just prior to the opening event of her first American retrospective exhibition at the Akron Art Museum. A few years later Frajndlich spent three days with Sherman in her New York City studio, where he made images for stories in Vanity Fair and in the Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung Magazine.

"Those were the halcyon days of photographic portraiture, where most artist/subjects knew what a photo shoot involved, and were willing to give a photographer the time needed to create the visual story," Frajndlich said. "… there was no better subject, than someone as open and unaffected as the Cindy Sherman I worked with that spring."

Frajndlich's portraits of Yoko Ono, Annie Liebowitz and Helen Frankenthaler from his recent project "Women in the Arts," which covers more than 50 years of portraits of women artists, curators and collectors, will be included in the exhibit.

About the Emily Davis Gallery

The Emily Davis Gallery is nationally known and presents challenging contemporary exhibitions and events that showcase the most current expressions and critical thinking evolving in the visual arts today. For questions about UA exhibitions, call 330-972-6030 or email [email protected]. More information is available at uakron.edu/art/galleries/ or facebook.com/EmilyDavisGallery.

Media contact: Cristine Boyd, 330-972-6476 or [email protected]