Jacques Henric Reviews Three Books on Rebels Cahun, Brouste, Clémenti

In a feuilleton for artpress, Jacques Henric reviews three recent French publications about rebellious figures: François Leperlier's biography of Claude Cahun, Judith Brouste's autobiographical 'Après Shanghai', and Jeanne Hoffstetter's portrait of actor Pierre Clémenti. Leperlier's 'Claude Cahun, l'exotisme intérieur' (Fayard, 500 pages) is a revised and expanded monograph on the artist born Lucy Schwob in Nantes in 1894. Henric describes Cahun's self-portraits as both repulsive and fascinating, and notes her anti-naturalist stance, her refusal of assigned identity, and her involvement with surrealists and the Resistance. Judith Brouste's 'Après Shanghai' (Gallimard) recounts her rebellion against her authoritarian father, a colonial doctor during WWII, and her path to becoming a writer with help from Jacques Lacan. Jeanne Hoffstetter's 'Pierre Clémenti' (Denoël) is a 'récit-roman' about the actor born in 1942, known for his feline beauty and roles in films by Buñuel, Pasolini, and Garrel, who died in 1999. Henric notes that Cahun likely never sold a photograph in her lifetime, but her work now stands alongside Bellmer, Witkin, and Cindy Sherman.