The Queer, Surrealist Lovers Who Defied the German Occupation

"Beyond just work, there is an incredible story of two people. Here are two women who photographed each other for the entirety of their lives together. The exhibition also aims to complicate the assumed roles of authorship and agency between the two artists, dissolving distinctions that have historically separated their contributions and recognition."

"Many people know the work and the name Claude Cahun, but they don't know anything about Marcel Moore or about this relationship that really was the governing force in these two people's lives from a very young age. For art historians and scholars of queer history, Cahun has long been the better-known name, while Moore has largely been passed over as a creative force."

Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore were 20th-century photographers and avant-garde collaborators whose creative partnership spanned their entire lives together. Though not widely recognized during their lifetimes, their work—including drawings, photomontages, and intimate portraits—demonstrates startling radicalism by contemporary standards. A new exhibition at the Contemporary Art Museum of St. Louis explores their artistic legacies and the values they embodied. Curated by Dean Daderko and Svetlana Kitto, the show uses experimental storytelling to present their work and relationship. Historically, Cahun received more scholarly attention than Moore, who was often overlooked as a creative force. The exhibition aims to complicate assumptions about authorship and agency between the two artists, revealing how their relationship fundamentally shaped their creative practice.

Read at Artnet News