Surrealism In a Nutshell

“Beloved imagination, what I most like in you is your unsparing quality.” -Andre Breton 1924

Why study surrealism now?

We are living in a sort of surreal world where our interpretation of reality in everyday life seems up for grabs. Our current political climate has literally created a dramatic divide in how people experience reality. It is easy to actually consciously recognize on a daily basis that, “Wow! Those people are living in a dramatically different world than I am.” When such stark contrasts exist, we loose track of the universals we hold in common. Through revisiting some of the basic key concepts of interest to the surrealists we may begin to find some surprises about our common humanity. It’s worth the try to jump into the realm of discovery.

The Surrealism art movement came about at a specific time in history and in the development of “Isms” in art. Prior to the turn of the century we had the American civil war, napoleonic wars and industrial revolution. At the turn of the century, rapid industrialization and technological innovation. Global interconnections became more apparent as communication and transportation technologies began to develop. Rise of nationalism and social movements responded. Challenges to colonialism also stimulated an interest in multiculturalism in art. Google AI puts it Surrealism in context for us.

“Modern Art Movements:

Fauvism (1900-1907): A short-lived movement known for its bold colors and expressive brushstrokes.
Expressionism (1905-1920): A movement emphasizing emotional expression and distortion.
Cubism (1907-1914): A movement that broke down forms into geometric shapes and depicted objects from multiple viewpoints.
Surrealism (1924-1966): A movement exploring the unconscious mind and dreamlike imagery.
Dada (1916-1923): An anti-art movement that rejected traditional values and embraced absurdity.
Abstract Expressionism (1940s-1950s): A movement characterized by non-representational art, often focusing on large-scale gestural paintings.
Pop Art (1950s-1960s): A movement that drew inspiration from popular culture and mass media.
Minimalism (1960s-1970s): A movement emphasizing simplicity, industrial materials, and geometric forms.
Contemporary Art (1960s-present): A broad term for art produced in the present day, encompassing a wide range of styles and approaches.”

While contemporary art is more than one movement…in general each art “movement" is in response to historic events wars etc. TIndeed the Surrealists were a multicultural lot, artists from France, Germany, Spain, Mexico and the US interacted and began to form manifestos of sorts. The ideas were influenced by impacts of war, developments in the realm of psychology and emerging philosophical perspectives. Experiments in use of art media, found objects and explorations in the creative technologies of the times such as photography and film excited the surrealist as these mechinisms excited ways to express their interest. Reading Andre Breton Manifesto Of Surrealism in (1924) presents a challenge to the modern ear because his tone is quite arrogant, however converting his assertions to questions can provide us provocations for the ways we might explore collage even today. Here are some questions to play with as we experiment with images and mediums this weekend.

Do we loose our understanding of life via our fervent belief in it?
Once we begin to age does convention crystalize our abilities and cause us to stop expanding the generosity of our minds eye? In other words do we stop “thinking outside of the box”?
Should we question realism and materialism in order to better understand ourselves?
What elements of spirituality are of value and what are ridiculous?
How does our daily discontent and our assumed relationships with the objects we own stultify our life force?
What is the Unconscious? How does ignoring its existence fail us when it’s likely to still influence our behaviors.
How can our dreams inform us?
How can consoncious thought be liberated from the constraints of societal norms?
What can we discover through automatism? That is action that is immediate and unprovoked by deliberate thought or intention?
What happens intellectually or emotionally when we take familiar objects and put them in unexpected contexts?
How does religion and entertainment enhanced by the media stultify our intellectual abilities, the achievements of science and the complexity of art?
Does what we deem “logical” limited by our narrow experience? Or does it expand it?

“Under the pretense of civilization and progress, we have managed to banish from the mind everything that may rightly or wrongly be termed superstition, or fancy; forbidden is any kind of search for truth which is not in conformance with accepted practices.The imagination is perhaps on the point of reasserting itself, of reclaiming its rights. If the depths of our mind contain within it strange forces capable of augmenting those on the surface, or of waging a victorious battle against them, there is every reason to seize them -- first to seize them, then, if need be, to submit them to the control of our reason.”

Here are some other great resources:

https://smarthistory.org/surrealist-techniques-collage/

https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/movement/surrealism

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/s/surrealism\

https://www.moma.org/collection/terms/surrealism#:~:text=Works,Magritte's The Enchanted Pose

https://www.moma.org/artists/2675-hannah-hoc

Understanding Surrealism | Art History 101

https://www.max-ernst.com

https://americanart.si.edu/search/videos?media_type=remote_video&media_series[]=2602&sort=desc

https://americanart.si.edu/videos/meet-artist-lorna-bieber-153956

https://americanart.si.edu/videos/meet-artist-laurel-roth-hope-153953

https://americanart.si.edu/blog/joseph-cornell-reaching-moon