Guest of Cindy Sherman takes an eye-opening look at what happens when a skeptical outsider finds himself romantically involved with the ultimate insider.
Paul H-O became a fixture of the New York art scene in the 1990s with his public access show GalleryBeat. Armed with a video camera, he attended art gallery openings, amusing some with his candid, witty assessments of their work, but also winning many fans. Among the latter was Cindy Sherman, the press-shy artist who is internationally acknowledged as one of the world’s most gifted and significant visual talents. Cindy invites Paul to her studio for a series of exclusive interviews and through these videotaped encounters, he gains unprecedented insight into her artistic process and a romantic relationship blossoms. Their initial bliss ends when Paul finds himself wracked with anxiety about his own personality becoming subsumed by his role as Cindy's guest at the celebrity-studded openings and dinners she regularly attends.
Filmed over 15 years and including interviews with a veritable who's who of the art and entertainment world (including Ingrid Sischy, John Waters, Robert Longo, Carol Kane, David Furnish, Danny DeVito, and Molly Ringwald), the film paints a vivid picture of the New York art scene that is also a witty, illuminating look at celebrity, male anxiety, and art.
""At once a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse, bittersweet autobiography and witty trip down art-world memory lane..."
New York Times
""Guest of Cindy Sherman" was how co-helmer Paul H-O found himself described on a seating card one night at some glitzy art-world dinner..."
Variety
""As soon as "Guest of Cindy Sherman" ended, I wanted to see it again for its high entertainment value and to determine better what I had just witnessed."
San Francisco Chronicle
""Yes, the filmmaker Paul Hasegawa-Overacker, a k a Paul H-O, was at it again, provoking people, and preserving the resulting exchanges for posterity, on his show “Gallery Beat."