By Emma Barhydt
The Flinn Gallery at Greenwich Library will host the fourth annual Flinn Reeves Lecture on Saturday, February 21, with a program devoted to the work of photographer Cindy Sherman, whose images have shaped contemporary conversations around identity, representation, and visual culture for more than four decades.
The lecture, titled “Who’s That Girl? Cindy Sherman and the Art of Identity,” will be presented by Larissa Bailiff, a New York–based independent art historian and educator with extensive experience in museum education and academic instruction. The program will take place from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. in the Berkley Theatre. The event is free and open to the public through support from the Reeves Legacy Fund.
Bailiff’s talk will examine Sherman’s photographic practice within a broader artistic, historical, and social framework. Sherman, who has worked primarily through self-portraiture since the late 1970s, uses costume, staging, and camera angle to construct characters that resemble familiar cultural types. Her images often reference cinema, advertising, fashion, and art history, drawing attention to how identity is shaped through visual conventions rather than personal disclosure.
Rather than presenting biography, Sherman’s photographs operate as studies of appearance and expectation. Bailiff will explore how this approach has encouraged viewers to consider the relationship between image-making and social roles, particularly in representations of women. Over time, Sherman’s work has served as a point of reference for artists examining authorship, performance, and the power of the photographic frame.
The lecture will also address Sherman’s influence on younger generations of artists. Bailiff plans to trace how Sherman’s methods continue to resonate in contemporary photography and visual media, especially among artists who use the body as a site of inquiry. Through this lens, Sherman’s work offers insight into how cultural values, aspirations, and anxieties register visually across decades.
Bailiff brings more than twenty years of experience in academia and museum settings to the program. She has lectured widely at museums and libraries and has led educational programs and tours at the Museum of Modern Art. Her academic background includes a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master’s degree from the New York University Institute of Fine Arts. Her work emphasizes close looking and contextual analysis, inviting audiences to engage thoughtfully with both historical and contemporary art.
The Flinn Reeves Lecture series has become an annual fixture in Greenwich’s cultural calendar, offering sustained engagement with significant figures and ideas in the visual arts. Hosted by the Flinn Gallery, the series reflects a commitment to public education and access, placing scholarly discussion within a civic setting designed for shared learning.
Cindy Sherman’s work remains a focal point for discussions around representation in a media-saturated society. Her photographs resist fixed interpretation, instead encouraging viewers to question how meaning emerges through framing, gesture, and visual codes. Bailiff’s lecture will provide audiences with historical grounding and critical tools for approaching that complexity.
The event takes place at Greenwich Library’s Berkley Theatre, a space that continues to support public programs connecting art, education, and community life. By bringing nationally recognized scholars into a local forum, the Flinn Gallery extends opportunities for residents to engage directly with major currents in contemporary art.
The fourth annual Flinn Reeves Lecture offers a focused examination of an artist whose work continues to inform how images function in public life. Through Bailiff’s presentation, audiences will gain a deeper understanding of Cindy Sherman’s role in shaping visual discourse and the lasting relevance of her questions about identity.
