Dally with Dali At the Frist
International Surrealism from Tate: Fifty Years of Dreams is the new exhibition at the Frist Art Museum. There’s lots to see and learn at this exhibit, and the focus is on the broad reach of surrealism as a state of mind through a selection of over 125 works including film, paintings, photographs, and sculpture. The curator, Matthew Gale, writes, “in an era of violent nationalism, the recognition of a global association of like-minded creators was a lifeline, at different times connecting artists and writers in New York and Santiago de Chile, Paris and Prague, Mexico City, and Tokyo.” Because surrealism is made up of individual responses instead of a specific style, this exhibit has been divided into six broad thematic sections: Automatism: Angel Images, Politics: Public Thirst, Dreams: The Reckless Sleeper, Desires: Sleeping Venus, Uncanny Nature: The Invisibles, and Objects: The Future of Statues.
The surrealists were inspired by the theories of Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, who proposed the existence of the unconscious, a part of mind containing emotions and impulses that are censored by the conscious mind. André Breton published Surrealist Manifesto in 1924 in which he defines surrealism as “Psychic automatism in its pure state, by which one proposes to express—verbally, by means of the written word, or in any other manner—the actual functioning of thought. Dictated by thought, in the absence of any control exercised by reason, exempt from any aesthetic or moral concern.” Breton, along with Louis Aragon and Philippe Soupault, founded the surrealist review Littérature. Thus, the first surrealists were authors and poets, but the ideas were soon embraced by visual artists.
In Les Champs Magnétiques (The Magnetic Fields), a collaboration between Breton and Soupault, the principle of automatic writing was introduced. In automatic writing, the author puts pen to paper and allows himself to write without stopping to think. This leads to automatic drawing, where the artist puts pen to paper and allows himself to draw without stopping to think. The section “Automatism: Angel Images” includes works from artists that all developed their own automatic processes, such as improvised drawing, gestural brushwork, dripping, spilling, or scraping paint across rough surfaces to stimulate new images or reveal hidden forms that emerged from chance marks. This includes Yellow Islands by Jackson Pollock. Pollock has stated, “when I am in my painting, I’m not aware of what I’m doing.”
Works in the section “Politics: Public Thirst” focus on social and political liberty as essential for personal and creative freedom. Surrealists aligned themselves with leftist politics in opposition to growing totalitarianism in Europe between the world wars. However, Dalí insisted that Surrealism could exist in an apolitical context and refused to explicitly denounce fascism. The Surrealists were invested in exploring the unconscious and challenging societal norms, whereas Dalí seemed to prioritize his individual success. This led to his expulsion from the surrealism movement in 1934. His 1936 painting, Autumnal Cannibalism is in this section. A response to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, this work depicts a couple locked in a cannibalistic embrace, forks, spoons, and knives at the ready.
Along with the fascination of the unconscious came the fascination with dreams. You are probably familiar with The Interpretation of Dreams, an 1899 book by Sigmund Freud in which the author introduces his theory of the unconscious with respect to dream interpretation. The section of the exhibition titled “Dreams: The Reckless Sleeper” explores how arts were interested in the unrestrained creativity of the unconscious mind. The Protector by Paul Klee depicts a person and dog-like creature on a leash in some sort of struggle. Klee was independent of the surrealist movement, yet he wrote in 1920, “Formerly we used to represent things which were visible on earth…Today we reveal the reality that is behind visible things.” He also has a brilliant quote about drawing: “A drawing is simply a line going for a walk.”
Along with personal liberty and social/political liberty, the surrealists valued sexual freedom. The section “Desires: Sleeping Venus” explores surrealist works with themes of love and sexuality. Of course, many of these works show us the male gaze, like Max Ernst’s painting Men Shall Know Nothing of This. The details of this composition were suggested by Freud’s study of repressed sexual desires. However, there are also works by women in this section. Leonor Fini’s Untitled (Praying Mantis) subverts the male gaze by depicting a couple post-coitus, the woman posed over the man with a knife in her hand. She’s not looking at him, but instead at the viewer, challenging them to see femininity as something powerful, even dangerous.
“Uncanny Nature: The Invisibles” explores how nature as something beautiful and also terrifying. The term “uncanny” in this context refers to a term that Freud used to describe a sense of anxiety caused by something recognizable yet weirdly unexpected or eerie, unsettling in a way that feels oddly familiar. Freud specifically relates an aspect of the Uncanny derived from German etymology. By contrasting the German adjective unheimlich with its base word heimlich (meaning “concealed, hidden, in secret”) he proposes that which is hidden from the public eye and considered taboo must be a dangerous or grotesque. Gordon Onslow-Ford identified a “Dark Queen” and “Knight” after the completion of his painting A Present for the Past. This may relate to Breton’s proposition of the existence of being beyond the realm of human senses, “The Great Invisibles.”
The last section is “Objects: The Future of Statues” which contains some statues and other three dimensional objects that defy classification. One piece, which is fairly direct, is René Magritte’s The Future of Statues. Magritte painted this cast of the death mask of Napoleon I with sky and clouds. A work in this section that’s more nebulous is Bomblet by Julian Trevelyan. It’s a baking tray filled clay forms that vaguely resemble body parts. It’s framed in an ornate frame like you might see around an impressionist painting. It’s certainly not something I would want hanging in my living room, but I can see it in Hannibal Lector’s psychiatry office, if that gives you an indication of how peculiar this piece is. I can’t deny that it has a strange appeal.
You wont want to miss Anila Quayyum Agha: Interwoven, the amazing exhibit in the Gordon Contemporary Artist’s Project Gallery, although it’s in a different space this time to accommodate the artist’s work. This exhibit spans two decades of Agha’s work, including earlier pieces that are much smaller (like her 2008 works Speak 1, 2, and 3) because she was limited at the time by space and money, like most artist when they start their career. “I do not have a single story,” Agha says. “I have multiple stories that become interwoven to create a tapestry that is colorful, that is varied, that has pattern, that has beauty and light.” My favorite work in this exhibit is All the Flowers are for Me (Red) which takes up an entire room. It’s a lightbox that Agha carved which casts light and shadows around the whole room. Art Curator-at-Large Trinita Kennedy states, “its dappled light effects recall jalis, the carved and pierced screens with ornamental patterns used in Indo-Islamic architecture. But, where jalis serve to divide women from men, Agha instead creates an inclusive space.” As the viewer steps into the room, they become part of the art, and when multiple viewers are in the room together, it becomes a shared experience.
Before seeing this exhibit I truly wouldn’t have been able to give a good definition of surrealism. I wouldn’t even have been able to name a surrealist artist besides Salvador Dalí. If, like me, you feel as though you know very little about surrealism and you aren’t sure if you would enjoy it, give it a try. I particularly enjoyed the range of emotions I felt as I went through the six sections. I was at times, awed, disgusted, intrigued, and even amused. Go see what emotions the works bring up for you. These exhibits will be up at the Frist until August 30.
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Bethany is a wife, mother, and dog mom. In her spare time she likes to read, write fiction, and go out with her family. She feels lucky to live in Music City where she can go to the symphony or theatre all the time.
