Magic Mirror will offer a unique perspective and insight into the work of Cahun, who used subversive avant-garde art practice as a form of resistance in Nazi occupied Jersey during WW2.
Curated by Karen Le Roy Harris
The Nunnery presents Magic Mirror - a major exhibition of work by
French Surrealist artist Claude Cahun and filmmaker Sarah Pucill.
Curated by Karen Le Roy Harris the exhibition runs from 17 April - 14
June 2015, to coincide with Jersey Heritage’s landmark retrospective
of Cahun and Marcel Moore. Many of the works on view will be shown in
London for the first time.
Forming part of an artistic dialogue with contemporary artist Pucill,
the exhibition is the part of the Nunnery Gallery’s 2015 In Dialogue
season, a year-long exploration of partnerships, artistic inspirations
and deeply involved relationships between the artist and the muse.
Called ‘one of the most curious spirits of our time’ by André
Breton, the exhibition will offer a unique perspective and insight
into the work of Cahun, who used subversive avant-garde art practice
as a form of resistance in Nazi occupied Jersey during WW2.
A French writer, photographer, Surrealist, and performance artist who
was largely written out of art history until recently, it is thought
that Cahun took her first self-portrait about 1913, launching a
lifelong obsession with examining gender, using herself as subject.
Sarah Pucill’s film Magic Mirror combines a re-staging of Cahun’s
black and white photographs with selected extracts from her book Aveux
Non Avenus (Confessions Denied). Exploring the longstanding
relationship between photography and film Pucill moves Cahun’s work
from still to moving image and repositions Cahun within a post-modern
context with gender, self and identity at the centre of discourse.
A large number of Cahun’s works created throughout her
non-conformist life will be on show. The exhibition will include
important political works such as a self-portrait depicting a defiant
Cahun dressed as an elderly lady with a Nazi badge between her teeth -
a disguise the artist used throughout her resistance.
Image: Magic Mirror.
Press Contact: .
Laura Callendar laura@lauracallendarpr.com.
Opening: Thursday 16 April 6pm - 9pm
Nunnery Gallery
Bow Arts, 181 Bow Road
London E3 2SJ
Opening Hours:
Tues - Sun, 10am - 5pm