Claude Cahun: Beneath This Mask - What Exactly Was Unmasked?
It was not so long ago when I went to Derby Museum and Art Gallery to see the Hayward gallery touring exhibition of Claude Cahun: Beneath This Mask.
I struggled to articulate my thoughts about this exhibition for several days thereafter and wanted to do a short synopsis of my thoughts on my Instagram Stories. But after much deliberation with my inner art critic demons, there was just NO WAY I could limit myself to stories – a momentary evaluation which would disappear within 24 hours. This had to be recorded in black and white text – the method in which I like to articulate my thoughts most. This Article includes great resources to learn about Claude Cahun, as well as multilayered exhibition critique/greater dialogue on Art Institutions.
Untitled (I am in training, don't kiss me) (1927) Courtesy of Jersey Heritage Collections
About Claude Cahun
Before we get into the critique, I’m going to begin by giving you a brief insight into Claude Cahun’s background. Claude Cahun (1918) was a French Surrealist Artist, formerly known as Lucy Schwob (1894). They were a non-conforming androgynous icon of their time, challenging the notions of identity and queer representation throughout their life’s work. But Claude’s practice cannot be realized without their essential counterpart, lover, stepsister (yes, lover and stepsister in the same sentence), and co-collaborator Marcel Moore, formerly known as Suzanne Malherbe (1892). The girls met at aged 15 and 17, in what was described as an ‘une rencontre foudroyante’ (a shocking encounter) and just 8 years later, Cahun’s father would marry Moore’s mother, inextricably locking the lovers together in the form of a familial disguise – justification for their collaborative intimacy under Jewish-Parisian Social expectations.
At this moment, a queer collaborative sisterhood was born – a partnership which would continue for the rest of their lives.
This photographic collaboration was never intended for public viewing – hence exemplifying the intimacy of Claude’s authentic sense-of-self. It’s authentically performative, captured by their lover, Moore, in which we discover an experimental revolution – not just with photography, but with queerness.
I’m not going to dilute this article with information that already exists out there about Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore - so I’ll link some great educational resources below.
Tik Tok life synopsis (less than 2 mins) Tik Tok Part 1 and Part 2 by @gaywitch333
Magazine Article (15 mins) SANS NOM: CLAUDE CAHUN AND MARCEL MOORE by Louise Downie, Curator of Art at Jersey Heritage Trust
Lecture (1hour 15mins) Claude Cahun: Pioneering, Gender-Defying, Jewish Radical by Jennifer Shaw and Tirza True Latimer
The Exhibition
The works themselves are phenomenal. They are what’s described as a ‘visual enigma’ - they provoke so many questions, of which cannot be answered. The photographs make me feel ambiguously liberated as a viewer – they’re so distinctive and iconic, yet you can’t understand everything you see. You don’t want answers and you don’t want to understand the photographs either – you just want to witness their truth, portraits unchained by any societal expectations.
Exhibition View at Derby Museum and Art Gallery
Untitled (1928)
They’re Curated in exactly the way I want to view them – they’re equidistant at eye level, the perfect arrangement. It’s a coherent sequence of which the curatorial decisions cannot possibly distract you from the pure essence that is the work itself. It’s a stripped back basic decision. I feel pure bliss encountering these works.
That was the first of two rooms. I entered the second room, where a few more of Cahun’s works ‘spill’ into the space, continuing the same display format. I highlight ‘spill’ in this instance because the rest of the room was bizarre. There was a drawing station which encouraged you to draw portraits. (In my opinion, drawing stations are one of the most valuable and basic forms of engagement a Museum/Gallery can have, so this was perfectly apt.) A long wall space showcased various Portraits from Derby Museum’s collection, intersected with what looked like small ikea mirrors and a single accompanying print-out list of works on a small table in the corner of the room. The print-out read:
‘In addition to the photographs by Claude Cahun we've included some portraits from Derby Museums' collection in the exhibition. Details of each work are below. Many of the photographs show local people or were taken by local photographers. We don't have much information about the people in some of the photographs, but we'd love to know if you recognise anyone in them.’
Derby Collection
List of works
We had to find some humour amongst the confused feelings
At the end of the room was a giant hanging frame, where you could dress up in an assemblage of hats and pre 20th Century attire, with accompanying props such as a sieve? Not to mention the family of plastic parrots hanging over the frame, with an array of curtain backdrops from a rainforest to a beach.
‘What the Fuck’ sprang to mind.
This very important body of work was suddenly mishandled by a Very Cis Approach, and above all, abused by lack of public funding. Why do I have to keep on witnessing unfinished exhibitions failed by museums at the expense of such great artists?
I found Derby’s iteration of this exhibition problematic on many levels. It’s multilayered and perhaps difficult to navigate through because of these interweaving layers - especially with the fact it’s a touring exhibition and therefore each iteration of it will differ from gallery to gallery. But let me try and explain the reasons why it was problematic:
1. Lack of Actual Information about Claude Cahun
The Hayward Provided one single plaque about Claude Cahun – only briefly glazing over the key aspects of Cahun’s life. This plaque also fails to mention the fact that Cahun and Moore were step-sisters, which felt like a very important aspect of their relationship. I’m also hesitant about the Hayward’s decision to use she/her pronouns in this instance. I know that Claude identified with all pronouns throughout their life, but given the context of Claude’s statement in their text Disavowels, ‘Neuter is the only gender that always suits me’, I’m not so sure this was the most fitting decision to make. (Although arguably, in the context of talking about Claude and Marcel’s step-sisterhood, she/her would feel more organic in this case). {As a cis white woman, I’m still learning more about gender terminology everyday, so if any of these angles are wrong or problematic then please educate me}.
By the looks of other Gallery iterations of this Hayward touring exhibition (like the Dick Institute’s for example), the Institute has created additional vinyl text about Cahun on the walls. I’d imagine that the main information plaque supplied by the Hayward is just the bare bones to contextualise the beginning of the exhibition, and it’s the expectation that Galleries have this displayed as a minimum amount of information. I think that this minimum information should be expanded to at least include additional resources to find more about the artist being displayed.
2. Lack of Representation for Marcel Moore and Collaboration
Why is Marcel Moore Cahun’s shadow in this exhibition? Is it this age-old fear of losing integrity of being a singular ‘great artist’ rather than actual acknowledgement of two co-collaborators? Why does collaborative practice still have a negative stigma in the art world and why might this undermine the work?
This whole body of work couldn’t be possible without Marcel Moore. They deserve more recognition, and this is highlighted by Tirza True Latimer (in the lecture I linked earlier) as they state ‘its our responsibility to recognise the significance of collaboration in the production of culture and put it on the map’ (Latimer, 2019).
3. Lack of a stimulating Public Programme
This exhibition has such body, depth and potential to become a real ✨moment✨* for queer and non-gender conforming communities. This all could have been possible through an insightful and explorative public programme. Think surrealist lesbian subcultures, rejecting conformities, increasing queer visibility – just something more than the typical and predicatble cis approach of confronting the theme of identity. But there wasn’t one. At a basic level – connect queer communities and artists to the works and pay them to host events e.g. examining queerness in portraiture. That’s literally the first thing that came to my mind in 10 seconds – so there’s no doubt that a few hours of planning could generate something incredible to engage people with the work through critical and contextually stimulating methods.
* A magical and authentically representational queer moment overlooked in history
4. Really Poorly done extension of the Exhibition which was so CIS and exposed Derby’s non-existent budget
Don’t get me wrong – I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity of the classic museum dress-up op. I had to find some light relief to what I’d witnessed. Dress-up is genuinely such a nostalgic and fun activity that all audiences can participate in, but reusing objects which were completely out of context in accompaniment to this exhibition did Claude a disservice in this instance. And as for identifying people in Derby’s collection – it was a measly attempt to bridge their works in relationship to Claude exhibition. It’s important that this research to be undertaken and that their works are showcased, but it doesn’t feel like the right time or place to do so in that particular context.
Their extension of the exhibition just wasn’t necessary and it actually ruined the exhibition for me. Cahun’s body of work was forced and twisted into something that was so disjointed and lacked any sort of coherence with Derby’s resources. Perhaps this is not a reflection on Derby Museum and Art Gallery as an organisation, but more of a reflection of the broader issue of lack of public funding for the Arts in the UK.
Conclusion
Am I looking into all of this too deeply, or is my disappointment justifiable?
I believe that Museums and Artists both deserve more. I want more from the museums themselves and I want more from their public programmes, in order to give more to their communities. I feel like this all boils down to the lack of public funding the Arts receive in the UK. It’s an issue that the whole country is still trying to tackle, yet we still don’t have any clear answers on how we can build sustainable income streams for Public Arts Organisations and Institutions. We shan’t settle with resources we already have, we shall continue to march forward and demand more…
Bibliography
Contemporary Jewish Museum (2019) Claude Cahun: Pioneering, Gender-Defying, Jewish Radical [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aIN2Me9BSg&t=2540s
L, Downie (2005) Sans Nom: Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore. Heritage Magazine. Available at: https://www.jerseyheritage.org/media/PDF-Heritage-Mag/sans%20nom%20claude%20cahun%20%20marcel%20moore.pdf
Illustrations
Cahun, C (1927) Untitled (I am in training, don't kiss me). Courtesy of Jersey Heritage Collections. https://www.jerseyheritage.org/research/jersey-heritage-collection/art/claude-cahun/
