Exist Otherwise

Exist Otherwise offers some of Claude Cahun's writings never before translated into English alongside a wide array of her artworks and those of her contemporaries. This book is a must-have for any fan of this iconic artist, now available in paperback.

In the turmoil of the 1920s and '30s, Claude Cahun challenged gender stereotypes with her powerful photographs, montages, and writings, works that appear to our twenty-first-century eyes as utterly contemporary, or even from the future. She wrote poetry and prose for major French literary magazines, worked in avant-garde theatre, and was both comrade of and critical outsider to the Surrealists. Exist Otherwise is the first work in English to tell the full story of Claude Cahun's art and life, celebrating and making accessible Cahun's remarkable vision.

Jennifer L. Shaw embeds Cahun within the exciting social and artistic milieu of Paris between the wars. She examines her relationship with Marcel Moore - Cahun's stepsister, lover, and life partner - who was a central collaborator in creating some of the most compelling photographs and photomontages of Cahun's oeuvre, dreamscapes of disassembled portraiture and scenes that simultaneously fascinate and terrify. Shaw follows Cahun into the horrors of World War II and the Nazi occupation of the island of Jersey off the coast of Normandy, exploring the powerful and dangerous ways in which Cahun resisted it. Through reading her letters and diaries, Shaw brings Cahun's ideas and feelings to the foreground, offering an intimate look at how she thought about photography, surrealism, the histories of women artists, and queer culture.

As a Jewish, gender-nonconforming artist living amid the rise of fascism and widespread anti-Semitism, Cahun's artwork challenged social norms of the time. The new book Exist Otherwise features her photographs, sculptures, and illustrations along with diary entries and writing clips that have never before been translated into English. The Cut

Claude Cahun may not be particularly well known outside the art world, but this highly readable biography of the twentieth-century French writer, artist, and photographer ought to help change this situation. Shaw has written a fascinating book about a gender-bending lesbian intellectual who challenged ideas of gender and sexuality in both her life and art. Filled with reproductions of photographs and detailed descriptions and analyses of her writings, Exist Otherwise is a comprehensive introduction to Claude Cahun's art and writing. With any luck, it will bring readers back to her unique body of work. Gay & Lesbian Review