Surrealism: The Poetry of Dreams
11 June–2 October 2011
Gallery of Modern Art
Stanley Place, Brisbane
Australia
Director:
Tony Ellwood
The Musée national d’art moderne, housed in Paris’s iconic Centre Pompidou, is one of the world’s leading museum collections of modern and contemporary art, and its Surrealism collections are the finest in Europe. This exhibition presents more than 180 works by 56 artists, including paintings, sculptures, ‘surrealist objects’, films, photographs, drawings and collages. ‘Surrealism: The Poetry of Dreams’ is an opportunity to see important art works that rarely leave Paris, in an exhibition that will provide a fascinating and comprehensive overview of this important artistic movement.
Curated by Didier Ottinger, Deputy Director of the Musée national d’art moderne, the exhibition presents a historical overview of Surrealism, charting its evolution from Dada experimentation, through the metaphysical questioning and exploration of the subconscious in the paintings of Giorgio De Chirico and Max Ernst, to the readymade objects of Marcel Duchamp and photographs of Man Ray.
Gaining traction in the early 1920s, the movement’s development is explored through the writings of Surrealism’s founder André Breton and key early works by André Masson. Also included is a remarkable selection of paintings and sculptures by surrealists Salvador Dalí, Rene Magritte, Victor Brauner, Joan Miró, Alberto Giacometti, Max Ernst and Paul Delvaux.
Film and photography are also represented throughout the exhibition, including films by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí, René Clair and Man Ray. Important photographic works by Hans Bellmer, Brassaï, Claude Cahun, Dora Maar, Eli Lotar and Jacques-André Boiffard also feature. The exhibition is rounded out with late works that show the breadth of Surrealism’s influence, and includes major works by Jackson Pollock, Arshile Gorky and Joseph Cornell.
‘Surrealism: The Poetry of Dreams’ will be accompanied by an innovative Children’s Art Centre program of activities based on surrealist games and an exciting range of public programs including talks, discussions and performances. GoMA’s popular Friday night Up Late program will return in July and and a program of films exploring surrealism’s influence on cinema, The Savage Eye, will be presented at the Gallery’s Australian Cinémathèque.
The Queensland Art Gallery will produce a full-colour exhibition catalogue, which will be the first English-language publication to profile the Centre Pompidou’s Surrealist collection.
Artists
Manuel ALVAREZ BRAVO | Jean ARP | Herbert BAYER | Hans BELLMER | Erwin BLUMENFELD | Jacques-André BOIFFARD | BRASSAÏ | Victor BRAUNER | André BRETON | Luis BUÑUEL | Claude CAHUN | René CLAIR | Joseph CORNELL | Salvador DALÍ | Giorgio DE CHIRICO | Jean DEGOTTEX | Paul DELVAUX | Maya DEREN | Marcel DUCHAMP | Germaine DULAC | Eric DUVIVIER | Nusch ELUARD | Paul ELUARD | Max ERNST | Wilhelm FREDDIE | Alberto GIACOMETTI | Arshile GORKY | Alexander HAMMID | Simon HANTAÏ | Jindrich HEISLER | Valentine HUGO | Marcel JEAN | Wifredo LAM | Jacqueline LAMBA | Nathan LERNER | Eli LOTAR | Dora MAAR | René MAGRITTE | MAN RAY | Marcel MARIËN | André MASSON | Roberto MATTA | Joan MIRÓ | Robert MOTHERWELL | Francis PICABIA | Pablo PICASSO | Jackson POLLOCK | Judit REIGL | Hans RICHTER | Joseph SIMA | Yves TANGUY | Dorothea TANNING | Stefan THEMERSON | Franciszka THEMERSON | TOYEN | Raoul UBAC
Media Contact
For additional information, images, or interview requests, please contact:
Amelia Gundelach | Senior Media Officer
T + 61 (0)7 3840 7162 | F + 61 (0)7 3840 7257
amelia.gundelach@qag.qld.gov.au
Images: www.qag.qld.gov.au/surrealism/media
*Image above:
Oil on canvas, 60 x 73cm.
Collection: Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris / © René Magritte/ADAGP. Licensed by Viscopy, Sydney, 2011.
