Disavowals: or Cancelled Confessions

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Contributions from François Leperlier, Agnès Lhermitte and Jennifer Mundy

Memories? Choice morsels. My soul is fragmentary.
—from Disavowals

Claude Cahun (1894-1954), born Lucy Schwob, was a poet, performer, resistance fighter, prisoner, Surrealist, "constructor and explorer of objects," photographer, and "queer freak" who invented her life by flaunting the interchangability of roles and playing with the ambivalence of identity. Whether feigning vulnerability on the arm of her lover and stepsister Suzanne Malherbe aka Marcel Moore ("the other me"), making theatrical public appearances in disguise (sailor, gymnast, gypsy), or making herself up (vampire, Buddha, mannequin, angel) for self-portraits and installations, she rendered opposites inoperative and exposed the thinness of gender and power constructs by reducing them to mere surface costumes.

In May 1930 Éditions Carrefour of Paris published 500 copies of a book called Aveux non avenus, in which Cahun explored these same dialectics in book form. It is the nearest thing to a memoir Cahun wrote, but in fact the book is an anti-memoir, a critique of autobiography, where she uses subversive photomontages and statements to present herself as a force of genius possessed of the need to resist identification and to maintain within herself "the mania of the exception." Disavowals is the first appearance of that work, widely considered to be her most important text, in English.

Reproductions of the original photomontages introduce the various sections, which in turn explore Cahun's distinctive ideas and obsessions—self-interrogation, narcissism, metamorphosis, love, gender-switching, humor, fear. An extensive introduction by Tate curator Jennifer Mundy sets the text in the context of Cahun's life and art. Also included is a translation of the original preface by Cahun's friend Pierre Mac Orlan, a comment by her biographer, François Leperlier, a note on the translation by Susan de Muth, and a postscript by Agnès Lhermitte.

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Customer Reviews

Claude Cahun Confronts Sexual Identity in Her Life and Her Art.
Claude Cahun (1894-1954), born Lucy Schwob, was a French poet, artist, photographer, writer, performance artist, and "queer freak," who explored the ambivalence of gender and sexual identity in her work. During the 1920s, she lived in Paris with her life-long partner and stepsister Suzanne Malherbe aka Marcel Moore ("the other me"). Together they collaborated on written works, sculptures, photomontages, and collages. Cahun is known for confronting the public's perception of sexuality, gender, beauty, and logic both in her Surrealist work and in her lifestyle. Cahun was known for her public appearances disguised as a sailor, gypsy, vampire, Buddha, or angel. Her collected writings were published in 2002 as Claude Cahun - Écrits (edited by François Leperlier). In May, 1930, Éditions Carrefour of Paris first published a book called Aveux non avenus, in which Cahun explored her subversive aesthetics in book form. Disavowals: or Cancelled Confessions is significant in that it is the first English translation of that book, which includes Cahun's memoirs, theories, and queer observations. It features an introduction by Tate curator, Jennifer Mundy; reproductions of original photomontages; a translation of the original preface by Cahun's friend, Pierre Mac Orlan; a comment by François Leperlier; a note on the translation by Susan de Muth; and a postscript by Agnès Lhermitte.
A compelling book in many respects.

G. Merritt

2008-11-28 (Boulder, CO) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 5

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Claude Cahun: A Sensual Politics of Photography

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Don't Kiss Me

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This first comprehensive overview of the oeuvre of Claude Cahun offers a wealth of previously unpublished photographs and drawings, illuminating not only her work but also that of her partner Marcel Moore and establishing for the first time the extent of their collaboration. It also includes the first thorough account of their Resistance operations, trial, imprisonment and attempted suicides during the Occupation. Cahun (1894-1954) is best known for riveting photographic self-portraits that seem eerily ahead of their time and has become the focus of an almost cultlike following. She acted out diverse identities, both male and female, in scenes ranging from severely simple to elaborately staged and was a pioneer of the gender-bending role-playing now seen in works by artists such as Cindy Sherman (born the year Cahun died), Nikki S. Lee and many others. Cahun (a pseudonym for Lucy Schwob) and Marcel Moore (Suzanne Malherbe, 1892-1972) were an extraordinary couple who worked and lived together for more than 40 years. Avid participants in the cultural avant-garde in Montparnasse during the 1920s and 30s, they ultimately moved to Jersey, in the Channel Islands, the only part of Great Britain to be occupied by the Germans during World War II. In Don’t Kiss Me, seven international authors examine Cahun’s and Moore’s lives and art-making; their theatrical, literary and performance activities; their relationship with the Surrealist movement; their writings and Cahun’s photographic technique. The extensive illustrations encompass not only Cahun’s iconic images but also Moore’s drawings and previously unseen photographs, manuscripts and ephemera.

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Customer Reviews

The examination of seven international authors
Louise Downie edits DON'T KISS ME: THE ART OF CLAUDE CAHUN AND MARCEL MOORE, pairing essays with a survey of a photographer whose self-portraits seemed unique at the time. Cahun and Moore were a couple who lived and worked together for over forty years: DON'T KISS ME holds the examination of seven international authors who examine their lives, art, and performance activities in light of the Surrealist movement of their times.

2006-11-05 (Oregon, WI USA) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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Absence Where As: Claude Cahun and the Unopened Book

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This new book, from inter-genre, bilingual writer Nathanael (Nathalie Stephens), investigates the relationship between image and language through a philosophical and poetic meditation on a self-portrait by Surrealist photographer and writer Claude Cahun.

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Don't Kiss Me: The Art of Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore

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Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore were an extraordinary couple who worked and lived together for more than 40 years. Cahun and Moore were the pseudonyms for Lucy Schwob and Suzanne Malherbe, who met in their teens and embarked on their unique relationship. They travelled from provincial Nantes to the hot-house atmosphere of Paris and finally to Jersey, where they found the space and freedom to develop their ideas but where they were to suffer imprisonment during the Nazi occupation for their Resistance activities. Theirs was an extraordinary artistic collaboration that produced some of the most original images and literary works to be associated with Surrealism. Best known for her riveting photographic "self-portraits" (the book argues forcefully that all of her works were collaborations with Moore, negating the validity of the term) Cahun has come to prominence in recent years particularly for the way in which her self-image was manipulated, creating mysterious, androgynous personae that seem eerily ahead of their time. A selection of international authors examine Cahun and Moore's lives; their theatrical, literary and performance activities; their relationship with the wider Surrealist movement; and Cahun's photographic technique. The book also includes the first thorough account of the Resistance activities, trial, imprisonment and attempted suicides of the two artists during the Nazi occupation of Jersey. The extensive illustrations include previously unseen photographs and drawings, manuscripts and ephemera. The wealth of new material in this fascinating survey makes it an essential purchase for all those with an interest in Cahun and Moore, photography, gender studies or Surrealism.

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Inverted Odysseys: Claude Cahun, Maya Deren, Cindy Sherman

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Claude Cahun, Maya Deren, and Cindy Sherman were born in different countries, in different generations--Cahun in France in 1894, Deren in Russia in 1917, and Sherman in the United States in 1954. Yet they share a deeply theatrical obsession that shatters any notion of a unified self. All three try out identities from different social classes and geographic environments, extend their temporal range into the past and future, and transform themselves into heroes and villains, mythological creatures, and sex goddesses. The premise of Inverted Odysseys is that this expanded concept of the self--this playful urge to "try on" other roles-is more than a feminist or psychological issue. It is central to our global culture, to our definition of human identity in a world where the individual exists in a multicultural and multitemporal environment. This book is an "odyssey" through historical, theoretical, critical, and literary perspectives on the three artists viewed in the context of these issues. Contributors include Lynn Gumpert, Lucy Lippard, Jonas Mekas, Ted Mooney, Shelley Rice, and Abigail Solomon-Godeau. Central to the book is Claude Cahun's "Heroines" manuscript, a series of fifteen stream-of-consciousness monologues written in the voices of major women of literature and history, such as the Virgin Mary, Sappho, Cinderella, Penelope, Delilah, and Helen of Troy. Translated by Norman MacAfee, these perverse and hilarious vignettes make their English-language debut here. This is also the first time that Cahun's text has appeared in its entirety. The book accompanies an exhibit cocurated by Lynn Gumpert and Shelley Rice at the Grey Art Gallery, New York University. Published in cooperation with the Grey Art Gallery, New York University. EXHIBITION SCHEDULE: Grey Art Gallery New York, New York November 16, 1999 - January 29, 2000 Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, Florida March - May 2000

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