SURREALISM

“Avant-garde”, in the term of arts, has the meaning of ground-breaking and ahead
of time. As such, each movement that is included in the Avant-garde is considered a
continuous revolution, full of innovation and always challenging what has long been
known about art. Despite having various radical trends throughout the length of
time and history, Surrealism art movement seems to provoke viewers’ thoughts and
desire to understand the meaning behind each artwork the most. It was the art of
being abstract, an attempt to comprehend the unconsciousness while at the same
time, maintaining some sort of connection to reality.

Surrealism was first found in 1924 during the World War 1 by the famous French
writer and poet André Breton, under the influence of the Dada movement. This
daring art trend was first introduced to the world by a book called “First manifesto of
Surrealism”, also written by Breton along with his future rival, Yvan Goll.

Known for being the characterized version of the evocative Dada art trend,
Surrealism is described as the interference between visual art and literature, a
movement that is blurring the line separating reality and imagination. This definition
allows surrealists to create unreal spaces and objects, most often are seen as dream-
like elements made up by human’s unconsciousness. As a result, behind every
surreal artwork is the voice of the author’s inner self, demonstrating their personnel
thoughts and deepest emotions, without the need of applying common logic or
reasons.

The common term that is used for this art movement, “Surrealism”, was coined
together from two words including “sur” – which means above, beyond and
“réalisme” – indicating reality as a doctrine, by the French poet known as Guillaume
Apollinaire in the 1917. Therefore, the meaning and goal of this art tendency is, by
no doubt, meant to challenge the border of reality and imagination.

However, it was not until almost 10 years later did the word “Surrealism” get a
definition of its own, defined under the view of this art move’s father – André
Breton: “Pure 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. Thought’s dictation, in the absence of all control exercised
by reason and outside all aesthetic and moral preoccupations.”

After “First manifesto of Surrealism” was published, it had caused a stir in how
people used to perceive conceptual art. From then on, this art movement became
acknowledged world-wide and gathered art-lovers’ attention from all around the
world. Consequently, Surrealism is famously known to bring out the aesthetics of
fantasies, distorted reality along with other eccentric characteristics through a wide
range of exploratory art techniques.

Many surrealists had come up with numerous ways to put materials together and
create artworks that evoke psychic reactions from viewers. First is Automatism – in
the name of a branch under Surrealism, also has a high place in being the most
acknowledged and used technique at the time. Artists who use this approach let
loose of their hand and imagination, making lines and shapes without consciously
controlled movements. Collage is the second well-known method which includes
cutting or tearing papers, paintings, fabric and stick them all to a surface in desired
orders. The next technique is called Frottage, and it involves rubbing materials
against a paper to highlight textures from the surface underneath it. Lastly is
Decalcomania, a unique approach when it comes to generating patterns. Artists
uses materials such as glass or aluminum foil to cover a painted surface before the
ink or paint dries. This way, surrealists can embellish a distinctive pattern by chance
onto the paper.

As mentioned above, the Surrealism movement was brought to life by two fathers,
André Breton and Yvan Goll. Nonetheless, they unexpectedly had different views
about Surrealism and since then, Surrealism art had been divided into two main
types: Figurative, also known as Veristic; and Abstract, which is as well called
Automatism. Breton and Goll then went on establishing their own categories under
Surrealism and recruited art lovers together with other artists to follow their
footsteps.

One side of this development in art is Figurative or Veristic Surrealism, regarded as

highly dependent on certain natural forms of objects. This approach in art heavily
focuses on visual perception – what human can see by eye, and uses this to open up
another world besides reality. Hence, despite being highly juxtaposed, detached
from real life and often put together with no sense of logic, such images and
artworks of the Figurative branch is thought to be easier to understand for viewers.

In addition, most surrealists who follow this direction of Surrealism frequently uses
dreams and the subconscious as a theme for their own art creations. Their art pieces
are brought to life to channel one’s inner-world in an ethereal way, lightly touching
the reality. Therefore, Veristic Surrealism is thought to be the best approach for
artists who wish to transfer their thoughts, emotions as well as ideas on various
topics to observers.

As one pioneer artist of Veristic Surrealism, Rene Magritte (1898 – 1967) became an
icon for this art movement. He believed that what is hidden from our vision is what
truly matters. As a result, he spent his life creating Surrealism paintings every day
and produced many famous paintings. To him, artworks mean the most when they
revoke curiosity to understand the meaning and gives away a mysterious vibe –
“Because mystery means nothing, it is unknowable”

“The Lovers II” (1928) is an oil painting

that shows 2 people kissing each other
despite their faces being covered by
white veils. This demonstrates the
common saying “Love is blind”.
Without the cloths, the painting could
have been just another romantic art
piece. However, the white cloths have
successfully made viewers found this
painting interesting.

Rene Magritte thought that trees

witness life and death, is a child of the
Earth and the Sun which resembles
happiness. The moon being painted in
the middle of the tree is the focus point
of the painting. Trees, to him,
demonstrates a close-knit relationship
with nature – “The tree, having become
a coffin, disappears into the earth”

Kristin Kwan is one of the current Figurative Surrealism artists who creates surreal
paintings that reflect her dreams and fantasy which she had from when she was a
child. She is drawn to the theme of life, death, and rebirth, which is show in many of
her artworks. Kwan loves fantasies and the imaginative world she had when she was
younger, and so she tries her best to bring such creativity into her paintings.
 The oil painting above is called
“Dandelion” (2022), featuring a cat’s
head coming out from one full-
bloomed dandelion flower among
other dandelions. Dandelions’
symbolic meaning is rebirth, because
it grows back after every cruel winter.
This demonstrates the idea of a cat
being born again for it is a myth how
cats have 9 lives to live.

This next painting here was labeled

“The Magician” (2022), illustrating the
cat as a magician with a bird flying out
of its mouth. In the art piece, the cat
raises its once paw up as if it was
greeting the audience, which is us – the
viewers. The bird is speculated to be
the cat’s latest victim and was reborn,
trying to fly away from the cat’s mouth.

Unlike Kristen Kwan who works with oil painting, Francesca Harvie is a young artist
in California, who works with technology and creates digital drawings. She’s
interested in capturing human’s odd emotions and experience through dream-like
drawings. Aside from being a digital illustrator, she is also a sculptor, glass-blower
and is an artist in every way possible.
 This coloured drawing was named
“Mānuka” (2020), which is a special
type of honey. In the painting, a
woman is shown to have her damaged
body curled up, covered in honey with
a lot of bees surrounding her.
Because Mānuka honey is also known
to be useful for healing wounds, it is
suspected that this represents the
uneasy feeling people go through to
heal their inner-self. The bees may
stand for people who try to help the
woman by creating the honey to cover
her wounds.

“Strawberry Milk” (2020) is an

illustration of a man being dragged
down by many arms coming from the
pink milk. This demonstrates a
suffocating and unnerving feeling
from being touched and held captive
by something you love – in this case, is
strawberry milk.

On the other side of this art trend is Abstract, otherwise called Automatism, is held
to be fully abstract without any strings attached to reality. This branch of Surrealism
bypasses natural physical shapes, whether the appearances of objects were real or
just made up by imagination.

Surrealists under this influence does not take into account how their work turns out
visually, but rather on the subconscious experience and ideas they have during the
progress. Despite the rejection for natural forms, artists still find their ways to put in
emotions and illustrates spontaneous expressions of life. Undoubtedly, it is
challenging for those viewers who try to make sense out of Automatism Surrealism
artworks because of its unconsciously nature.

André Masson (1896 – 1987) was one of the pioneers for Surrealism art movement
back in the days. As a French literary painter, he was captured by the beauty of
Surrealism and after exploring various methods to create artworks, he moved onto
experimenting automatic drawings. His work theme for paintings was standing up
against wars and violence, along with a touch of eroticism. To him, the contradictory
sense between each art movement is what makes it the richest source to study
about.

This piece of artwork was titled

“Kitchen-maids” and was created in
1962. Despite not having a clear form,
it is clear that Masson was trying to
draw a scene where the maids were
working in the kitchen. This is how
Automatism surrealists works on their
drawings – objects are constructed
without a form and the painting only
has an overall conceptual meaning.

This sketch here is called “Childbirth”

(1955), which presents the scene of a
woman giving birth to a baby. The
figure of the woman was drawn by just
a few lines, with her hair being the
most visibly understandable part of
the illustration. The red lines represent
the bloody parts along with the
connection between mother and her
baby.

Jackson Pollock was an American painter and was one of the Automatism artists
who had paintings that were extremely hard to visually understand. After creating
various artworks and immersed himself in Surrealism, he wanted to pursue the
movement under the Abstract branch. For him, he did not paint because he wanted
to, but rather he had the urge to bring the artworks to life. Pollock also believed that
each painting has its own soul and life.

This painting was one of the most

famous works from him, also known
as “The She-Wolf” (1943). Although
his unique style was invented later on,
this abstract work was not stopped
from being acknowledged for its
distinctive look. It is said that the she-
wolf is covered with unreadable
calligraphy around her figure.

Known by the name “Number 3” as the

third painting in a series Pollock
created in 1948, this artwork was
painted by his special way of
colouring. Made up from a vibrant
colour palette which is similar to “The
She-Wolf”, this illustration gives away
the feeling of a madness, chaotic
space inside the artist. The intensity of
each brushstroke reminds the viewers
of Pollock’s urge to paint and give life
to the art piece.

William Anastasi (1933) is a Surrealist that is still actively creating Automatism works
until today. While being an important figure for the American Conceptual Art and
Minimal Art, he continuously making drawings and investigates the autonomy
functions of objects. He also liked to experience with blind drawing – letting loose of
the hand and allowing other elements to take control of the lines.
 This drawing is entitled “Walking
Drawing”, and was produced in 2012.
The method he used, by the name
suggests, is to let the motions while
walking takes control over the artist’s
hands. Because Automatism
Surrealism focuses more on how the
person creates art, not the result itself,
the sketch seems to having no further
meaning to it.

This art piece here remains untitled,

despite being created from 2013. The
work is simply Anatasi throwing black
glossy enamel onto the canvas, which
is hung on the wall. Such violence
during making the artwork is
demonstrated through the drops of
enamel, showing a part of the Dada
movement that Surrealism came from.

Overall, Surrealism was a pretty organized movement under the name of Avant-
garde and had created outbursts of ideas in French art for a long time. Many art
lovers believed Surrealism reached its end when its father – André Breton passed
away at the age of 70 in 1966. Due to such strong development of Surrealism, it has
proved that it is up to the artist’s imagination how an art piece will be created.
Surrealism has opened up people’s minds about how to appreciate artworks on a
spiritual level and not only judging them through a visual outlook.

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