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2026 Flinn Reaves Lecture: “Who’s That Girl?: Cindy Sherman and the Art of Identity”
Speaker: Larissa Bailiff
February 21, 2026
2:00 p.m.
Berkley Theater, Greenwich Library
Contacts:
Flinn Gallery
Barbara Richards – Barrich211@gmailcom – 203-536-3733
Greenwich Library
Kathy Cihi – kcihi@greenwichlibrary.org – 203-803-9523
The Flinn Gallery is pleased to welcome Larissa Bailiff, a New York-based independent art historian and educator, who will present
“Who’s that Girl?: Cindy Sherman and the Art of Identity” as the fourth annual Flinn Reaves Lecture. Bailiff will explore the pioneering influential work of artist Cindy Sherman, placing her iconic self-styled and self-reflexive photographic production within a broader art historical and social context
Talk Description:
Cindy Sherman is recognized as one of the most important and influential artists in the world of contemporary art. Beginning with her groundbreaking Untitled Film Stills series (1977-1980) artist Cindy Sherman has explored the intersection of portraiture, gender roles, and our media-saturated culture in fascinating, profound and amusing ways. Dressing up, altering her appearance, and inserting herself in dozens of invented roles or “portraits”, the artist has evoked imagery from films, tv, magazines, and high art. Her varied personas anticipate today’s “selfie” culture, and selective art of self-fashioning, dismantling the notion of fixed identity. Bailiff will consider the ways in which Sherman’s photographs have focused a critical lens on images of women and their sterotypes across the mediascape over the last four decades. She will discuss the influence of Sherman’s iconic work and ideas upon younger generation of artists and how it continues to register the aspirations, foibles and markers of our contemporary society.
Pre-registration is required for this program. Registration opens at 10am on Monday, Feb.2.
https://greenwichlibrary.libcal.com/event/13840937
Larissa Bailiff
Larissa Bailiff is a New York-based art historian and educator and brings over twenty years of experience in academia and museum work She has lectured widely at museums, libraries and taught art history at Pratt Institute and the Fashion of Technology. She has an extensive background creating and facilitating programs, talks, and tours at the Museum of Modern Art, where she was instrumental in the launch of the MoMA Courses program in 2005. In 2020 Larissa founded ARTSMUSE, her own digital platform for teaching art history and art appreciation classes. In early spring 2026 she will also be teaching two multi-part courses on 19th century artists for the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. Larissa holds a B.A. in art history from U.C. Berkeley and an M.A. in art history from New York University Institute of Fine Arts.