During the 1930s, Dora Maar’s photomontages became celebrated icons of surrealism, which of course made this exhibition very fascinating to me. I walked in not really knowing much about her apart from my memory of a quick google search I’d done, so I had no real expectations but I felt like I was taken on a journey through a small world of her work. The work included from other artists created the context necessary to make it feel like an immersive journey because I could better understand the work of one artist in the context of art movements and external- influences.

I like the unique compositions and slight oddities in her photography. Her eye for the unusual also translated to her commercial photography, including fashion and advertising, as well as her social documentary projects. In Europe’s increasingly stressed political climate she signed her name to a number of left-wing manifestos, a radical gesture for a woman of that time.

Born Henriette Théodora Markovitch in 1907, during her childhood she preferred to be called Dora. In 1932 a public bulletin announcing the opening of her first studio marked her transformation from Henriette Markovitch artist painter to Dora maar photographer. Within just a few years she “built a photographic practice of remarkable variety”. By the end of the 1930s Maar has returned to painting, which she would end up devoting herself to for the end of her life.  I love that her work spans through many different mediums, and particularly love her surreal collages.

Remembered mainly for her surrealist phtotographs and photomontages, it is only since Maar’s death in 1997 that the full bedth of her output has bugun to be recognised. The exhibition traces her long career and the political context, professional opportunities and personal networks that shaped jer decisions at every stage.

Maar’s political leanings brought her close to the surrealists and her work soon expressed their shared outlook. The surealist movement aimed to transform the human experience. They advocated for an intellectual as well as a social revolution, refusing the constraints of society. A lot of my interest falls in line breaking away from how society constructs our thoughts and breaking away from planned drawings, instead preferring to see where my mind wanders, looking both inwards and outwards to understand “The Self” within the universe. Something about surrealism brings me so much excitement and I feel such joy, energy and inspiration when viewing surrealist artworks, collages and concepts.

The Surrealists believed “the rational mind repressed the power of the imagination, weighing it down with taboos”. Influenced by Karl Marx, they hoped that the psyche had the power to reveal the contradictions in the everyday world and spur on revolution, believing that revelations could be found on the street and in everyday life. I find the everyday is so vital, and there is so much power in observing the world around. The playfulness of surrealism is so key, and this playfulness helps to free ourselves up and plays such a vital role in keeping creativity fun and explorative. I believe that a piece of artwork should not feel like a chore to create, it should be fun otherwise the original joy of creativity and passion that comes with it can get lost.

“At the movements heart was a rejection of the rational in favour of a vision that embraced the power of the unconcious mind”.

I was very excited to see Picasso’s ‘The Weeping Woman’ in this exhibition because it is so full of emotion with a very interesting use of shapes and colour. I think bringing context with other artists should be done more often in exhibitions because the surroundings of an artist and their influences are very key to understanding what they have created.