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Cindy Sherman , b. January 19, 1954

Murder Mystery People

1976-2000
7 1/2 in. x 5 in. (19.05 cm x 12.7 cm)

Medium and Support: Seventeen gelatin silver prints
Credit Line: Purchased as the gift of Katherine D. and Stephen C. Sherrill (PA 1971, and P 2005, 2007, 2010), Sidney Knafel (PA 1948), Scott Mead (PA 1973), Michael Schmertzler (PA 1970), Drew Chin (PA 2000) and Emily D. Griset (PA 2000), and Amy Falls (PA 1982), and museum purchase
Accession Number: 2013.58.1-17

Commentary

Throughout her career photographer Cindy Sherman has continuously made work that explores the construction of identity and challenges stereotypes of women. Although she photographs herself, her images are not self-portraits, but representations of personas she creates by transforming herself through clothing, makeup, wigs, prosthetics, and props. Appropriating imagery from popular culture, art history, film, and other visual sources, her staged “characters” have ranged from screen sirens to sinister clowns to aging socialites. Made while she was a student at Buffalo State College, Murder Mystery People forecasts the conceptual foundation upon which Sherman’s photographic oeuvre is built. In this series, “stock” characters from classic Hollywood mystery movies, such as the melodramatic starlet and the trench-coated detective, are meticulously staged—from clothing to pose and gesture to props. The artifice of these images is reinforced by the photographer’s cable release cord, visibly trailing off the picture’s edge, and an occasional prop discarded from a different character. In this early work Sherman is not interested in using masquerade to deceive the viewer, but rather engage them in the performance.

Exhibition List
This object was included in the following exhibitions:

Related Children(s) Click a record to view
Image of the press
the press
2013.58.1
Image of the detective
the detective
2013.58.10
Image of the maid
the maid
2013.58.11
Image of the dashing leading man (in character)
the dashing leading man (in character)
2013.58.12
Image of the daughter
the daughter
2013.58.13
Image of the jealous husband
the jealous husband
2013.58.14
Image of the actress
the actress
2013.58.15
Image of the director
the director
2013.58.16
Image of the drunken wife
the drunken wife
2013.58.17
Image of the daughter (at funeral)
the daughter (at funeral)
2013.58.2
Image of the son
the son
2013.58.3
Image of the actress (at murder scene)
the actress (at murder scene)
2013.58.4
Image of the dashing leading man
the dashing leading man
2013.58.5
Image of the mother of the deceased
the mother of the deceased
2013.58.6
Image of the son (at funeral)
the son (at funeral)
2013.58.7
Image of the butler
the butler
2013.58.8
Image of the actress (daydreaming)
the actress (daydreaming)
2013.58.9

Your current search criteria is: Exhibition is "In Character: Artists’ Role Play in Photography and Video".