Saturday, October 23, 2010

October 22, 2010 Surrealism Lecture

Surrealism

Surrealism's literal meaning is beyond reality.  It started in Paris in the 1920’s after World War I.  It's roots were found in Dada, but it was less political and more artistically based.  It's goal was to create a shocking response in the viewer out of the everyday or expected norms of the bourgeoisie socio-economic class.  This was often very disturbing.  In response to Sigmund Freud's studies of the subconscious mind and dreams, artists fused the psychological dreamlike and fantasy states with the everyday.  The influence of fantasy in art has always been and surrealist artists continue to influence all genres today.

Features:
  • less political ??
  • new psychological theories of Freud and his book, The Interpretations of Dreams, 1899
  • access to the subconscious mind
Artists:
  • Max Ernst
  • Rene Magritte
  • Salvador Dali
  • Giorgio De Chirico
  • Man Ray
  • Jean Arp
Stole from Dadaism:
  • automatism/chance
  • continued rebellion against traditional art
  • use of cubism
Examples of listed artist's surrealist works:
  • Max Ernst, "Eye of Silence", 1925.  Opened top of head and dumped everything out.
  • Rene Magritte, "False Mirror", 1928. All about what it is a picture of.  Destroys expectations.
  • Salvador Dali, "The Persistence of Memory", 1931. Combination of the everyday and the dreamlike.
  • Giorgio De Chirico, "....with Biscuits", 19??. Cubist influence but doesn't take it to abstraction.
  • Man Ray, "Object to be Destroyed", 1923.  Hypnotic and dreamlike.
  • Jean Arp, "Collage of Squares Arranged According to the Laws of Chance", 1916-17. Not total chance, just use chance to spark creativity.

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