(Photo: Nikki S. Lee/Courtesy of MoMA)

If Cindy Sherman had turned her “Untitled Film Stills” into an actual film, the result might have been like a.k.a. Nikki S. Lee. Premiering at MoMA this week, it’s the first feature-length movie by the 35-year-old Korean artist who explores identity and conformity by photographing herself as a member of various ethnic groups and subcultures (skateboarders, Latinas, Long Island housewives). The quasi-documentary follows her from the Venice Bienniale to a fashion shoot to the homes of people who’ve bought her art, watching her change characters all the while. The real story, though, is the delicate dance between Lee and her collectors, in which it’s the patron, not the artist, who craves acceptance.

At the Museum of Modern Art. October 5 through 7

Related:

• Archive: “Arts and Culture”
• Articles by Karen Rosenberg
• Table of Contents: Oct 9, 2006 issue of New York | Subscribe!