In February while in Berlin I visited the Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg, an art museum focused on Surrealism located opposite the Charlottenburg Palace. All works in the gallery are “either directly related to the Surrealist movement or can be considered precursors of and source of inspiration to it.” I was so excited to discover this gallery and visit it. With our museum passes, we had audio headsets included. As I went around the gallery I could type in a number and discover so much more about each painting and its ties to surrealism. I love Max Ernst’s collages and it was amazing to see some of his paintings. I particularly love his Le triomphe de l’amour fausse allégorie, 1937 and the details of the piece. The different faces and weird creatures. I love the way surrealist paintings are composed, and the realism that can make the creatures and strange compositions seem real. I also loved the details of the screen that had been collaged by surrealist, it has some really playful characters and peculiar scenes rise out of the busy composition.
The Surrealist Manifesto was written in 1924 by Andre Breton. It revolves around the existence of dual realities, reality and a ‘surreality’. Surrealism grew out of the Dada movement and was a reaction against rationalism which had brought about the first world war. “It was a means of reuniting conscious and unconscious realms of experience so completely that the world of dream and fantasy would be joined to the everyday rational world in an absolute reality, a surreality.” The worlds are also described as conscious and unconscious, rational and fantastical.
Automatism refers to involuntary actions and processes not under the control of the conscious mind. Automatism plays a role in Surrealists techniques such as spontaneous or automatic writing, painting, and drawing, there is free association of images and words, including collaborative creation though games like Exquisite Corpse. Work in this movement does not start with preconceived notions of a finished product, instead, artworks are provoked by dreams, or emerged from subconscious associations between images, text, and their meanings. This automatic and unconscious way of working is my favourite way of working. I find drawing and painting meditative and prefer not to have a preconceived plan, but rather let my thoughts and emotions influence my paintings and drawings as I go. This was inspired by blind drawing and automatic writing, and also a search for freedom from expectations which can lead to artist block and frustration.
At this exhibition, I discovered the surrealist’s use of Decalcomania, a transfer technique they used to create imagery by chance rather than by conscious control. Ink, paint, or another medium is spread onto a surface and, while still wet, covered with material such as paper, glass, or aluminium foil. When removed, the medium transfers a pattern that may be further embellished upon. I was particularly amazed by Hans Bellmer’s self-portrait/ autoportrait which is so realistic while being very abstract. The textures and spontaneity of the ink is intriguing, I’m sure it will be a technique I explore.
I plan to continue to learn more about Surrealism would like to read a few books on Surrealist movements and ideas over summer. I am drawn to surrealist figures, compositions and paintings. I continue to learn how our perception of the world is directly influenced by our surroundings and how the way we categories things effects our understanding. This unification of a duality that the surrealist aimed for is a positive form of creativity, which is not restricted by black and white thinking. We often feel like something must be one thing or its opposite when the reality is opposites rely on each other to exist.
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