Cindy Sherman, icon of art history since the 1980s, demonstrated with her first important series Untitled Film Stills (1977–1980) the break between authentic self-portrayal and -enactment by confronting observers with the paradox of a strategy of denial.

The primary aim of the exhibition The Cindy Sherman Effect. Identity and Transformation in Contemporary Art is to explore the perspectives Cindy Sherman opened up to subsequent generations through her unmasking strategies. In the games she played in portraying images of society and clichés she created freedoms that exploited subsequent status quos to boost the critical analysis of identity as related to art, society and politics.