ART-TRIBUTE:Marvelous Objects-Surrealist Sculpture from Paris to New York
Surrealism was an international art, intellectual, and literary movement led by poet André Breton from 1924 with the publication of the Manifesto of Surrealism through World War II. The Surrealists sought to overthrow the oppressive rules of modern society by demolishing its backbone of rational thought. To do so, they attempted to tap into the “superior reality” of the subconscious mind.
By Dimitris Lempesis Photo: Hirshhorn Museum Archive
Surrealist art has largely been defined as predominantly paintings and drawings by artists working in Paris. A few exhibitions focusing on sculptures have addressed only one aspect, the found-object assemblages. The exhibition “Marvelous Objects: Surrealist Sculpture from Paris to New York” seeks to present a more holistic overview of Surrealism from the early ‘20s through the late ‘40s, in Europe and the United States. The exhibition brings together more than 100 works created by more than 20 artists from France, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Great Britain and the United States from the ‘20s to the ‘50s, rebalancing the traditional views about Surrealist sculpture by placing equal emphasis on organic abstraction which originated in the whimsical reliefs of Jean Arp, and the of found-object assemblage, which originated in the Assisted Readymades of Marcel Duchamp and became a surrealist passion. In addition to the 85 sculptural works, the exhibition presents a number of drawings, paintings and photographs that substantiate the surrealists’ interest in working in three dimensions. These range from photographs of disturbingly posed dolls by Hans Bellmer and Ruth Bernhard to images of bizarrely dressed mannequins in the surrealists’ 1938 exhibition in Paris. Also included in the exhibition are sculptures from the ‘30s to the early ‘50s that transition from surrealism to postwar metal constructions.
Info: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Independence Avenue at Seventh Street SW, Washington, Duration: 29/10/15-15/2/16, Days & Hours: Mon-Sun 10:00-17:30, http://hirshhorn.si.edu
Surrealism was an international art, intellectual, and literary movement led by poet André Breton from 1924 with the publication of the Manifesto of Surrealism through World War II. The Surrealists sought to overthrow the oppressive rules of modern society by demolishing its backbone of rational thought. To do so, they attempted to tap into the “superior reality” of the subconscious mind.
