| |
The Legacy
of Surrealism
by little
woo, September 23, 2011
 Though
I never studied Art History in University, I was
intuitively aware of a great personal resonance with
the Surrealist Movement of the 1920-30's. Throughout
my life, Surrealist Art floated into my world via
film, theatre, visual art, dreams and through of my
own aesthetic tendencies.
When I went to see the current Vancouver Art
Gallery Exhibit: The Colour of My Dreams
(THE SURREALIST REVOLUTION IN ART), it felt like I
was reuniting with old friends. Many of the core
principles and intentions of the movement were
aligned with my own life journey and perspective. I
saw so many points of astounding synchronicity in
thought and interests that it felt like I am maybe
a reincarnated Surrealist?
Then I also saw that the Surrealists were in many
ways early Burners. (matching many core
principles of the Burning Man community) Their
mantra was to create Revolutionary Art to
transform the World! They had political and
spiritual intentions and met as a growing collective
in cafes and underground venues. They challenged the
colonial and bourgeois values of Europe, addressing
the "moral bankruptcy" of their times. They opposed
Repression and wished to liberate Desire. They
generally rejected Capitalism and favored
socially-committed art. They also toyed with
paradoxical themes, discovering the innate
challenges of their Idealism. For example, many
Surrealists examined the conceit of appropriating
another culture's artifacts and rituals while also
being personally fascinated by these same objects
and feeling strongly compelled to collect them.
(Surrealist founder André Breton was an avid
collector of indigenous art)
The Surrealists were quite a playful and curious
bunch, creating collaborate processes and games that
helped them bypass the sometimes limiting control of
Reason and allowed things to emerge from the
Unconscious. For example, the Cadavre Exquis
(exquisite corpse) game involved several artists who
would compose a phrase or drawing within successive
folds of a sheet of paper in a way that no one could
see what the others had written or drawn. Upon
completion, the paper was opened fully to reveal the
"blind" collaboration. Strange creatures and poetic
juxtapositions were often the result. Another game "dessin
collectif" (collective drawing) involved showing
another artist your drawing and then asking them to
sketch it from memory. This sketch would then be
shown to another and so on. Like a Chinese Whisper
game for artists, the original image would morph
through the successive interpretations.
Though they were primarily an intellectual movement,
the Surrealists were the inventors of many
artistic processes. (frottage, collage, found
objects, automatism) Also, artists with cutting edge
or odd ideas were enthusiastically integrated into
the Surrealist collective as they were not afraid of
the Weird or Profane. For example, artist Pierre
Molinier studied pornography in his works yet
founder Breton assured him he had "only friends in
Surrealism". It makes sense that they were deeply
interested in the Dream realms and wanted to imbue
the Everyday with a sense of Mystery. Also on
display in this exhibit are some dreamy clips from
iconic films such as the "Voyage to the Moon" by
Méliès (with the image of the moon getting struck in
the eye with a rocketship) and the classic vampire
film "Nosferatu" by Murnau.
Another fascinating piece of history within the
exhibit includes the connection between British
Columbia and the Surrealist movement. Several
members made long journeys within BC, exploring
their appreciation of First Nations art (whose
abstract representations were big inspirations to
the movement) and the extraordinary landscapes of
our fair province. Thus it makes sense that the
Surrealists would rub elbows with famed
anthropologist Levi-Strauss through their mutual
love of cultural mythology and collection of
ethnographic artifacts.
Like any powerful artistic movement, the Surrealists
were well ahead of their time. Much of their
Manifesto is still deeply relevant to our
present-day condition and perception. Many
surrealist works are still considered very fresh and
challenging by modern art critics. Even the fact
that there were quite a few leading female
Surrealists reflects the progressive nature of the
movement. And with a slogan such as "A nation that
oppresses others can never itself be free", the
Surrealists would not be strange bedfellows for the
current activists and intellectuals who are leading
the latest Revolution in Consciousness...
Truly, the exhibit itself is a labour of love,
showcasing 350 works by over 80 Surrealist
artists (including André Breton, Salvador Dalí,
Max Ernst, Man Ray etc). For curator Dawn Ades and
the staff of the VAG, it was a huge bureaucratic
challenge to bring such a diverse collection of
works from all over the world (selected from both
private collections and museums) so this exhibit
will ONLY be shown in Vancouver. It will not be
touring elsewhere so this is your wonderful chance
to see the range of style and medium that existed
within the Surrealist legacy!
Note: The exhibit has been extended by popular
demand til October 2, 2011. I recommend going during
a weekday morning if you can as the donation night
on Tuesdays involves a long lineup to get in). There
are 2 guided tours per day (11am and 2pm) which are
akin to taking a short art history lesson and well
worth the price of regular admission ($22.50 per
adult).
If you catch the 11am tour (approx 1 hour), then you
will have lots of time to enjoy the exhibit in more
detail. Making effort to read the various
historical descriptions is also recommended - for
deeper appreciation and understanding of this
movement's legacy.
* Photo above is of a painting by Edith Rimmington:
The Oneiroscopist, 1947 - oil on canvas
The Vera and Arturo Schwarz Collection of Dada and
Surrealist Art in the Israel Museum
∆ top |
|
