Surrealism

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Perhaps very old topic of art, that has been dissected by experts to the smallest detail... But I assume not everybody on board has investigated even the biggest names of arts.

Was reading book about Magritte. Certainly an artists, that even if you didn't know by name, you have sure come across his works at some point of your life. Belgian surrealist, who didn't take part of theoretical part of movement, and lived isolated, outside art circles in small suburb of Brussels. His major works happen in 20's and 30's, and despite generally it appears that work speaks for itself, Magritte also had some curious remarks about his personal beliefs in world.





For scandinavian market, few years ago there came very good introduction book of Surrealism, in Finland titled simply "Surralismi" (by Helsingin Kirjatukku 2010), which was published in 4 languages in same edition Fin/Swe/Dk/Nor. For this reason print run could be massive and price very cheap. 300+ pages with all relevant names, with long essay on subject matter. Magritte was cover artists of that book. Bought his solo book from 2nd hand shop for dirt cheap price of 2,50 some years ago.

[STREETMEAT]

im not super into surrealism but the menil has always had a great collection for their surrealist exhibit, the Magritte work they have there is fantastic aswell. 

[Andrew McIntosh]

Big fan of Ernst. Had the pleasure of seeing his collage work up close and personal when an exhibition came over a few years ago. This was a gallery in Ballarat, my father and I spent the night there to see the exhibition and I basically had the whole building to myself. The cuts where so precise you had to look very hard to see them - a lot of craft and imagination involved.

Have a certain respect for Breton. A real dictator, and it took him a while to get over communism (I think it was a visit to the soviet union that turned him), but at least he saw through Dali as the piece of shit wanker he was much earlier than anyone else. (Yea, Dali was a fuckwit, he had a great imagination but did his best work before he went to the US. He was a precursor of Warhol and I hate Warhol.)

Would love to see the work of De Chirico in the flesh one day, although I wouldn't be surprised if I was disappointed. Not a surrealist, of course, but very much claimed by them until he stopped doing "metaphysical" painting and just started doing weird looking horses. But his imagery is some of the most stirring I know.

Also a fan of Matta. Really sensational, explosive looking paintings of wonderful cosmic energy/matter. Big influence on the US Abstract Impressionists.

A nice little book to get is "A Book Of Surrealist Games". Some very interesting information and imagery in there.
"Good patriots are idiots; good patriots bugger the country. Every day, at any time, at least one patriot is shitting on the nation's sacred turf without a second thought. Priests are idiots, they know nothing about religion. We shall teach them about it. The executioners at Breendonck concentration camp are idiots; they have absolutely no imagination. For instance, they could have made their victims look at themselves in the mirror. Reader, you, too, of course, are an idiot. The cops protect you (badly), but you suffer (badly). The rest is shit." (Margritte and Marien).

[tiny_tove]

With futurism my favourite avantgarde.
I have been working some time for Beniamino Levi, art trader who owned the rights of many works of Dali and I have been lucky enough to see some of the original artworks by the Spanish genious and other gentlemen.
It is definitely something I could look for hourse and trying to find a sense with my mouth wide open.

Completely in love with anything done by Magritte.

[simulacrum]

Surrealism, thus far, is the only artistic movement whose history I have bothered myself to follow. I am appreciative of the fact that Surrealism was initially conceived as a literary movement since I have far more respect for the written word and veneration for the classics than I could ever have for anything of the visual or musical arts. Also, surrealist art is really the only visual art I find to be very intensely engaging, considering the artists associated with the movement championed pure psychic automatism (or at least as much psychic automatism as could be consciously allowed) and were enemies of reason and rationality, deeming the two to be responsible for the "horror of the trenches," and the atrocities of war. Breton's, as well as some other Surrealists', interest in psychoanalysis and the subconscious realm of dreams also fascinates me endlessly, as the workings of the conscious and subconscious (and, as Freud has sought to prove the existence of, the unconscious) mind are things that can seem to be endlessly plumbed.
Has anyone read the Surrealist Manifesto? I've been meaning to pick up a first edition from a local bookstore, but I have yet to do so.

[Jordan]

The Surrealist Manifestos are pretty great, although the second one is mostly Breton bitching about his former friends, if my memory serves. The best line of the first is:

The simplest Surrealist act consists of dashing down into the street, pistol in hand , and firing blindly, as fast as you can pull the trigger, into the crowd.

The manifestos, along with Soluble Fish and I think some other automatic writing are available in a book called Manifestos of Surrealism or something like that. My copy was stolen, unfortunately.