Claude Cahun was a 'they' before there existed such a term. Fluid both in her sexuality and her art practice (photography, sculpture, writing, theater), she was a precursor to those like Maya Deren who refused to pinned down by labels. Like Cindy Sherman and the Countess de Castiglione, she adopted self portraiture as a method for getting at gender and desire, the female gaze and the role of the viewer.

She was also a political activist and resistance worker during the war. She and her lifelong partner Suzanne Malherbe a/k/a Marcel Moore found their own way of shaking up the system.

This self portrait, Kneeling Naked, with Mask, 1928, was in the vein of the many classical avatars she adopted like pierrot, vamp or dandy. Cahun wasn't really recognized for her work until the 80s (she died in 1945) and today, it feels even more prescient.