Surrealism: Worlds in Dialogue

Surrealism revolutionised art with fantastic, radically subjective motifs. As a political and international movement, the artists wanted to change society. The topicality of their ideas enables a fascinating comparison between important pioneers of Surrealism and the following generations of artists.

In a world that is increasingly dominated by technology, the examination of one’s own consciousness that was characteristic of Surrealism is moving into focus once more. What effects are technologies having on our society? What is it that makes us human? Topics like the search for identity, irrationality and the game of perception can be found in the works of René Magritte and Claude Cahun as well as David Lynch and Cindy Sherman. Some 120 top-class paintings, photographs, film sequences, collages and sculptures provide an exciting tour through 100 years of surreal worlds.

Artists include Hans Bellmer, Luis Buñuel, Marco Brambilla, Claude Cahun, George Condo, Salvador Dalí, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Alfred Hitchcock, Sarah Lucas, David Lynch, René Magritte, Joan Miró, Meret Oppenheim, Tony Oursler, Man Ray, Cindy Sherman, Penny Slinger, Dorothea Tanning, Erwin Wurm.

About the Author

Prof. Patricia Allmer is professor for modern and contemporary Art History at the University of Edinburgh.