In a discomfiting series of self-portraits rediscovered in the 1980s – most of them apparently produced in the 1920s and 1930s with the assistance of Marcel Moore, the lesbian companion with whom she lived as a recluse on the island of Jersey between 1937 and 1954 – the wildly androgynous artist can be seen vamping it up in a boggling array of cross-sex get-ups.
In one photo the mercurial Cahun impersonates a bald semi-human creature with a conical skull; in another, a crew-cut blond Narcissus floating naked in a Jersey rock pool. Elsewhere she’s a Jazz Age aviator in cravat and huge round goggles; a hairless albino with two heads; a dapper Baron de Charlus-style boulevardier; a shiny and querulous-looking Buddha. Cahun never breaks role or smiles; the effect is at once fey, deadpan and disturbing.
At the time of their rediscovery the Cahun photographs – so droll yet so peculiar – seemed to have come out of nowhere and even now they retain a dateless, uncanny, hermetic quality. Many appear to have been taken inside La Rocquaise – the large and dilapidated Jersey house Cahun and Moore shared – or else on a nearby rock-strewn beach.
Why – or how – Cahun and her companion made these images remains mysterious.
Terry Castle, London Review of Books
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Terry Castle, London Review of Books
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p.s. Hey. Today d.l. Alan brings the exquisite sensibility behind his superb fiction and his eternally dreamy blog the purest of treats to bear on this locale in the form of Claude Cahun's sublime and under-known work, and that pile up of adjectives is fully warranted, as you probably know by now. Anyway, enjoy, talk to your guest-host, etc., and thank you so much, Alan. Not much else to say. I woke up today feeling crappier than I did yesterday and, tonight, the last batch of five 'Them' shows start up and start to tick down. I'm a little spaced out. It's best for all concerned if I talk simple today. I think it's all I'm good for. I'll try. I'm fine, though. No big deal. Don't worry about me. ** Alan, Speak of the devil. One more really big thanks to you, man. I'm honored. I kind of have to feel better by tonight, so I guess I will, and thanks for wishing me well. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi, David. ** The Evil Ghost of JW Veldhoen, Oh, before I forget again, your thing is going up here tomorrow. All right, all right, you're Latoya. But no way I'm not Michael. I'm going home. Green River Cemetery, that's it. Like the Green River Killer's earthly accomplice. ** Robert-nyc, Hi, Robert. I'm glad you liked Neckface. And I'm really glad you liked 'Them'. Thank you so much, man. I think I'll have a salad for lunch. That would probably be a good idea. And some juice. Orange, I guess. Yeah, my Halloween is going to be spent in airports and on a plane. Two planes. There is no God. What are you doing on the big H? You going to the parade maybe? ** Plexus, Hey, G. Really glad you liked the art yesterday, of course. Cool. Are you still feeling the same? My cold took a slight downtick today. I'm hoping it's just the rain's psychological effect, but probably not. Okay, yeah, you're right about monsters with wings, it's just ... I'll explain the winged monster worries thing when I answer the question you asked me elsewhere. Then you'll understand. Yeah, I guess my wings aren't so giant, but they're attached to my ankles, so they don't have to be. It takes a god to worship an ass. I don't get hardly any editing input on my books. So far. I just get, like, 'you used the word ass five times in one paragraph. Just thought you should know.' Ha ha, stuff like that. Do you work every single day now? No, you must have at least a day off, right? I hope you're feeling better. Love from the person named me. ** Thomas Moronic, Hey, Thomas! How awesome to see you! NYC is going really good, yeah. This cold sucks, but at least I can walk and kind of talk. Do you still need a place to stay in London? Hm. Okay, I'm going to pass along your request just in case. Everyone who is in London, please read these words by the great Thomas Moronic and respond in kind, thanks: 'very short notice i know, but myself and a friend are in london from tomorrow night till saturday ... the person we were gonna stay with has had to cancel, so we're texting and emailing people trying to find somewhere to crash on some of those nights. anyone on here have any floor space for myself and my friend (a wonderful artist and long time bud of mine who is visiting from malaysia at the moment)? hopefully we should have somewhere sorted to stay by the end of tonight but i thought i might ask on here on the offchance that we get stuck for somewhere to crash ... if anyone feels like giving a sofa or floor space to me and my friend (we're both housetrained and sociable!) then email me at god_or_nothing@hotmail.com asap! Thank you!' Hope you get that sorted out, T., and lots of love to you. ** Jose, Hey! Belated huge thanks again for the other day! Uh, hm, I don't know if I know Zulawski's work or not. Maybe not. Maybe I saw 'Mad Love'. I can't remember. I'm intrigued, and I will follow up. Thanks a lot. ** David, Maybe this weird rain here today is attached to that bad weather shit in the mid-west? There's something really weird about this rain. I can't put my finger on it. ** Eli Jurgen, Hey. Gardening ... no. I think I could be. I don't really have any place to act out any gardening fantasies or wishes I might have. My LA roommate and best friend Joel is kind of way into cactuses and fixing up our pad there into a cacti kingdom, and I approve of that, so I guess maybe a gardening enabler or something? ** Steevee, I'm lucky to answer my Facebook messages within the space of six months, and I hope he's not like me. The actor, I mean. Who are the interviews with? ** Andrew, I did look at some pix of the Volta costumes yesterday, and, yeah, they are terrific. That is super great news about your piece being on the Spank blog. Link us up when it's posted. Literary liondom, here you come. Congrats! ** Laurabeth, Hey, L. So glad you liked 'Them' that much. That means a lot. The goat? Uh, hm, well, I guess it's a representation of how scary and kind of horrifying sex seemed back in the mid-80s when we made the piece and when our friends were dying of AIDS all around us and no one knew exactly how the virus was transmitted. So, yeah, it's kind of nightmare image/ representation of that on a basic level. An expanded version of that piece of writing with David Sellers in it ended up being published in 'The Dream Police'. It's called '10 Dead Friends'. That might be how you know it. I know, after you left, I kicked myself for not asking you to show me your ghosts. Sad. Next time, but still ... Ian's into video games? Ask him what platform(s) he has/favors and what a few of his favorite games are? I'm a gamer too. Mm, yeah, I think probably either 'God Jr.' or 'My Loose Thread' would be the right place for him to start. Thanks so much, Laura, and tons of love to you. ** James, Yeah, I hope I start feeling better soon too, ha ha, thanks. My cold has entered the phase where I keep coughing up stuff, and, when I do, my mouth tastes like a public swimming pool smells, if you know what I mean. Weird. Anyway, a spacey thank you again and a fare thee well. ** Creative Massacre, It seems like the WWE would have to pay Lesnar a huge amount of money to wrestle for them or even make a cameo in one of their narratives, and I wonder if the WWE would think it's worth it. You slept through a tornado? Wow, aren't they supposed to be like really, really loud? Like 'end of the world' loud? ** Misanthrope, Between the new knowledge that you have tiny teeth and the influx of emoticons into your comments, you're like a new, more adorable man. Nice to meet you. ** Bill, Hey. I may have to delay my Thek show viewing until tomorrow, grr. I'm kind of wrecked-ish. 'Sweet Movie', yeah, totally. All over the place. And on the Clementi boat climbing thing, oh, hell, yeah. ** Bollo, Cold's on the way south rather than out. Maybe the exit is in my feet. When do you move again? Oh, yeah, Ginjoha, I know their stuff. A friend of mine collects their tapes. I love their packaging, really gorgeous. And the stuff I've heard from them is pretty interesting across the board. I should do a Day here on Tape labels. I think I will. Hope you weren't late for work, man. ** Allesfliesst, Oh, sure, I know Legendary Pink Dots. They were very cult in the US, but all of us, I don't know, young cognescenti of the British and askew were into them. 'Geisha Mermaid', yeah, wow, I know that song. Haven't spun their stuff in ages. I like me some of the kind of new post-shoegaze echoey stuff. Like some of so-called 'hypnagogic' bands. I still like a dense sound. Short and dense. Musical spooky houses. I was trying for a while to get an echoey effect in my fiction. Didn't really work though. ** Brendan, Not better but different. Congrats on the painting sale, man. Awesome. I haven't cracked your email/post yet, but I think I will today. I'm sure it's greatness. ** Scunnard, Thanks for the warning about Long Beach. I have this tendency when I go there to lick everything, I don't know why. My cold isn't horrible and overwhelming, exactly, but it doesn't go so well with performing in a dance/theater piece. But I've found that double espressos really help. You might try that. NYC's good. This is the first time I've been here in years that I'm actually into NYC and liking it. Usually, I get alienated by how completely it is compared to when I lived here. But not this time. I don't know why. Weird, I just read the most incredible Artaud quote yesterday, and I was going to write it down, and I didn't, but it was great. Feel better, pal. ** Jake, Well, if I'm remembering correctly, real scanners, or the wand-like kind, would work perfectly well as dildos. As vibrating dildos even. So, you can't lose, man. Go for it/him. ** Frank, Hi, Frank! 'Monsters' ... never even heard of that one. What a super boring name. Like a SyFy Channel title. Keep plugging away, man. The Gay Agenda needs you now more than ever, ha ha. As does 'Enter the Void', actually. I've never ever seen 'Glee'. It's so weird. I love Jane Lynch though, duh. Excellent day to you, Frank. ** Is that it? I think that's it. Let me refresh the page one last time. Hold on. Yep, that's it. Enjoy Claude Cahun courtesy of Alan, as I know you will, and maybe I'll greet you tomorrow with less phlegm in my language. See you then.
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