Exhibitions 2000-2001
June 7 - July 7, 2001
The Bride Wore Trousers
Cynthia Grieg
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The Bride Wore Trousers chronicles the long lost work of a cross-dressing 19th-century photographer named Isabelle Raymond (at times using the alias M. Claudet), who after working for several years as an itinerant photographer, settled in New Eden, Michigan, circa 1871. Raymond, convincingly constructed from artist Cynthia Greig's imagination, is the Victorian photographer-equivalent of such literary figures such as George Sand and the Brontë sisters (Ellis, Action, and Currier Bell) whose male alter egos extended their influence far beyond what would have been possible under their own names.
She is also the historical figure feminists dream of discovering - one who consistently produced strong and independent work. The photographs, presented within a museological display replete with art historical contextualization and authentic looking visuals, are not only an exploration of "what if," but poignantly reveal the way in which oppressive social structures can virtually erase the presence of radical social transgression by the lack or suppression of historical evidence.