Claude Cahun

Part autobiography and part critique of that genre, Claude Cahun’s text is accompanied by photomontages created by her partner, Marcel Moore, based on Cahun’s designs. Placed at the introduction, conclusion, and in each of the nine chapters, the illustrations echo the fragmented nature and surrealist bent of Cahun’s poems, aphorisms, and short reflections. The portraits of Cahun and the writing hold the artist’s identity in flux, deliberately eschewing a fixed portrayal. The text in this image, written in French, translates to “Under this mask is another mask. I will never finish lifting these faces.”