Murder Mystery

Accession Date:
03/12/12
Accession Number:
F-SHER-1F12.05.1-.6
1976
six gelatin silver print cutouts mounted on board

About This Artwork

This series of six photographs is a selection from a work that consists of 255 black-and-white cutouts. In its entirety, the work depicts a suspenseful crime story without resolution. On display is the moment of climax, in which the actress is attacked by the shadowed killer. The plot unfolds like a campy midtwentieth-century crime movie enacted by thirteen characters all played by the artist. The cutouts are presented in rows from left to right, allowing the viewer to read the work like a storyboard. Sherman’s use of multiple angles and close-ups further relates the work to techniques of traditional filmmaking.