Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore Exhibition at Alberta Pane Gallery in Venice

The Alberta Pane gallery in Venice is hosting 'I owe you – Claude Cahun/Marcel Moore', an exhibition presenting books, drawings, and photographs that document the life and work of Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore. Claude Cahun, born Lucy Renée Mathilde Schwob (Nantes, 1894 – Saint Helier, 1954), was a Surrealist artist who explored photography, writing, collage, sculpture, disguise, and performance, focusing on gender fluidity and identity. Cahun's work expressed a refusal to belong to a defined gender and a need to convey diversity through the body, reflecting her experiences as a Jewish, homosexual woman suffering from anorexia and isolation. She portrayed herself in mutable identities, erasing any traits that could indicate a gender. In 1918, she fell in love with her stepsister Suzanne Malherbe, who became Marcel Moore, forming a lifelong romantic and artistic partnership; they signed works with both initials, LSM. The exhibition also features Marcos Lutyens (London, 1964), who created 'Cahun Induction Score' for the catalog. Lutyens, known for using hypnosis in his practice, conducted an unprecedented hypnotic induction during the two-day opening, engaging the audience and blending science and art, reality and dreams.