sign in sign up
<<
Home , Mimi Parent, Minotaure, Olympia (Manet)

SURREALISM AND THE OBJECT 30 OCTOBER 2013 - 3 MARCH 2014 occupies a singular place A second chapter in the history of in the history of the 20th century avant- Surrealism began in 1927 when its garde because of its international most active members joined the influence and longevity. With French Communist Party. ”Le Surréalisme et l'objet“, the first The Surrealists' commitment to this large-scale exhibition dedicated to political ideology implied absorbing the Surrealist sculpture, the Centre reality that formed the theoretical Pompidou invites visitors to see the and philosophical heart of movement in a new light. From Marcel Communism. Breton then called on Duchamps's readymades to Miró's Surrealists to found a ”physics of sculptures of the late 1960s, the poetry“. The Surrealist object asserted exhibition retraces the various stages this enduring consideration of reality. in the story of the Surrealist In militant Surrealism, it appeared as ”challenge“ to sculpture through the the obvious response to this new use of everyday objects. political and philosophical context. When it was founded in 1924, Through more than 200 works, the Surrealism's very name expressed its exhibition highlights key moments aim of surpassing the real. In his in this way of thinking, and its fertile founding Manifesto, André Breton posterity in contemporary art. called for a primarily tributary creation of an ”interior “, where dreams, the subconscious and automatism in creation inspired a poetry designed to deny reality and throw it into turmoil.

www.centrepompidou.fr READY-MADES AND MANNEQUINS Ten years before the creation of Surrealism, In the late Twenties, Alberto Giacometti joined the in 1914, and circle formed around the journal Documents, invented two objects that were to gain enduring founded by primitive art historian Carl Einstein currency in the imagination of the movement. and the philosopher . His works The former introduced the image of the then took on violent, sacrificial themes, typical of mannequin into his painting; the latter bought the the direction Bataille gave to his review. His latest bottle rack that became his first ready-made. sculptures, shown in the of 1930 at the From 's Doll (1933-1934) to the Pierre Loeb gallery, impressed André Breton, dummies lining the “streets” of the 1938 who proposed that he join the Surrealists. “International Exhibition of Surrealism”, Giacometti took part in the group's events until mannequins made a regular appearance in 1935, producing object-sculptures inspired by the Surrealist events. The Manifesto of 1924 ”interior model“ Breton enjoined the artists of the presented the mannequin as one of the most group to submit to: ”For years, I only produced propitious objects for producing the “marvellous” the sculptures that came to my mind fully- sought by Surrealism, and for arousing the sense fledged, and I limited myself to reproducing them of “the uncanny” inspired in by his in space, without changing anything.“ (room 3) discovery of a doll in a tale by Hoffmann. In 1938, the Dictionnaire abrégé du surréalisme [shorter THE DOLL dictionary of Surrealism] made Duchamp's ready- made an “object raised to the dignity of a work of In the mid-Twenties, Hans Bellmer approached art by the artist's will alone”: the prototype of Lotte Pritzel, a wax doll-maker, who a few years a Surrealist object crystallising the dreams and earlier had been asked by the Viennese painter desires of its “inventor”. (room 1) to make a dummy as a substitute for Alma Mahler when she ended their relationship. At the beginning of the Thirties, OBJECTS WITH A SYMBOLIC a series of events led Bellmer to start work on his FUNCTION own Doll. In the winter of 1932, his mother sent him a case full of his childhood toys, including Dalí gave an initial definition to what he called some dolls with disjointed members. At the time ”Objects with a symbolic function“ in when Bellmer was moving closer to George Le Surréalisme au service de la révolution en 1931: Grosz, the painter of Dadaist automatons, he ”These objects, which lend themselves to a discovered the doll Olympia in Offenbach's opera minimum of mechanical functioning, are based based on the Tales of Hoffmann (The Sandman), on the fantasies and representations that can which brought Kokoschka's ”fetish“ to mind. arise from the performance of subconscious acts. He made his first doll, staging it in photographs […] Objects with a symbolic function leave no that were then reproduced in the journal place at all for formal preoccupations. They Minotaure in December 1934. A crucial landmark depend only on the amorous imagination of each in Surrealist ”mannequinerie“, Bellmer's Doll was person, and are extraplastic.“ Through its latent imbued with the erotic dimension associated with eroticism and form, more like a children's toy these female effigies, from the myth of Pygmalion than traditional sculpture, Alberto Giacometti's to modern silicone dolls. (room 4) Suspended Ball, discovered by Salvador Dalí and André Breton in the Pierre Loeb Gallery in 1930, prefigured this definition. (room 2) FOUND OBJECTS / ”EXPOSITION ”EXPOSITION INTERNATIONALE INTERNATIONALE DU DU SURRÉALISME“, 1938 SURRÉALISME“, 1933 The contestation of the traditional work of art, In the 1933 exhibition at the Pierre Colle Gallery, and the aim of inscribing Surrealism in the Surrealism affirmed the place now occupied by concrete world, as witness the proliferation of the object in the Surrealist imagination. Tristan objects, was also expressed by the conquest of Tzara rewrote the preface of the catalogue real space. This took the form of staging accompanying the exhibition: ”Unpleasant Surrealist exhibitions in a way that heralded the objects, chairs, drawings, sexes, paintings, art of the ”installation“. Marcel Duchamp, manuscripts, objects to sniff, automatic and enthroned as ”generator/arbiter“ of the 1938 unmentionable objects, wood, plasters, phobias, ”International Exhibition of Surrealism“ at the memories from the womb, elements of prophetic Galerie des Beaux-Arts, was in charge of the dreams, dematerialisations of desires […] Do you exhibition set and stage design. Each of the still remember that time when painting was sixteen participants was invited to ”dress“ a considered “an end in itself”? We have moved on mannequin taken from a department store from the period of individual exercises. […] Time window. These mannequins formed a line on passes. Through the emotional characters of either side of the Surrealist Street greeting the your meetings. Through the experimental visitors. (room 8) explorations of Surrealism. We don't want to build any more arks. As sincere partisans of the SURREALISM IN EXILE: better, we have tried, physically and morally, to THE OBJECT AS A CHALLENGE embellish the face of a little. By turning our TO SCULPTURE backs on paintings.[…]“ (rooms 5 and 6) The Second World War drove the Surrealists into ”EXPOSITION SURRÉALISTE exile. André Breton, , André Masson, D’OBJETS“, 1936 , and others moved to the United States. The Forties and the years that The ”Surrealist Exhibition of Objects“, shown at followed saw the appearance of a new generation the Charles Ratton Gallery in May 1936, was of sculptures, where the ordinary, everyday object dedicated to the quintessence of a Surrealism became the basic material in assemblages with the ability to transfigure and transmute constructed along the lines of the ”cadavre objects, and thereby reality itself. A far cry from exquis“ (the free juxtaposition of disparate any expertise or ”artistic genius“, the power of elements). Max Ernst produced anthropomorphic the designation ”Surrealist“ was the very subject creatures by assembling plaster moulds of of the exhibition. A high point in Surrealist domestic objects (bowls, plates and the like). thinking applied to the object, it was a kind of 's meeting with Joan Miró in apogee of a Surrealism expressed in its 1932 had led him to widen his formal vocabulary simultaneously poetic and theoretical purity. In to a register inspired by plants and animals. the showcase and on the walls, there was little or Apple Monster, 1938, made from apple tree no sign of the know-how or talent valued by the branches collected near his studio, humorously bourgeois aesthetic. Ready-mades temporarily evokes the Surrealists' fascination with removed from their functional anonymity, these monsters. With Bull's Head, 1942, resulting from objects defied all speculation or fetishism – like the assemblage of a bicycle saddle and René Magritte's Ceci n’est pas un morceau de handlebars, was one of the key fromage, which was taken to pieces at the end of protagonists of this process. (room 9) the exhibition, restoring the cheese cover to its original use. (room 7) ”LE SURRÉALISME EN 1947“ JOAN MIRÓ: SURREALISM IN EXHIBITION FULL SUNLIGHT The ”Surrealism in 1947“ exhibition, which Responding to the Surrealist call to found a opened on 7 July 1947 at the Maeght Gallery, ”physics of poetry“, Joan Miró briefly abandoned remained faithful to the principle of surpassing painting in 1929 to produce a series of art underlying the pre-war invention of the Constructions, in which Jacques Dupin saw Surrealist object. In the catalogue preface, André an undertaking that ”challenged a plastic tool too Breton wrote of the ”recent poetic and plastic easily dominated, after long immersion in works“, which ”have a power over minds that troubled waters: the mother-waters of the surpasses that of the work of art in every sense“. subconscious and dreams.“ These Constructions In 1947, this power was identified with the ability were a mixture of collage and ready-made. of these objects to act as the leaven of a new The group of sculptures Miró created in the mid- mythology. The heart of the exhibition was a room Sixties revive the playful verve of the very first containing ”altars“ dedicated to ”a being, a “cadavres exquis”. In the space, umbrellas, category of beings or an object that could possess sewing machines, taps and mannequins' legs mythical life“. Esotericism was the latest compose the random poetry "made by everything" argument put forward by Surrealism to distance called for by the Comte de Lautréamont. these objects from the field of the aesthetic. Once (room 12) again, Duchamp was responsible for the ”installation“ of the exhibition, laying down ECHOES OF THE SURREALIST general staging principles that were given shape OBJECT by architect Frederick Kiesler. (room 10) What is exhibited in art today under the auspices ”EXPOSITION INTERNATIONALE of the object is often based on principles DU SURRÉALISME“ (ÉROS), advocated by the Surrealist object. The play on words and images characterising the ready-made 1959-1960 inspires the work of Ed Ruscha. The ”disturbing The eighth ”Exposition inteRnatiOnale du uncanniness“ of mannequins continues to Surréalisme” (ÉROS), staged at the Daniel fascinate Paul McCarthy. The ”games“ of Hans Cordier Gallery in 1959, was devoted to the Bellmer's Doll are prolonged in Cindy Sherman's movement's most secret and constant Sex Toys. Heim Steinbach places Surrealist inspirational power. Duchamp, who said he psycho-objects on his contemporary consoles. wanted to add eroticism to the list of ”isms“ Philippe Mayaux produces a plethora of Marcel proliferating in the 20th century, dreamed up a Duchamp's anatomical moulds (Objet-dard and ”vaginal“ doorway, and an animated, olfactory others), Théo Mercier reinvents the “cadavre setting: ”patchouli at the entrance and a variety of exquis” in his souvenir shop for tourists. refinements right to the back of the last rooms.“ The iconoclastic, libertarian vigour of Surrealism The exhibition covered a huge timescale, from innervates Arnaud Labelle-Rojoux's practical joke Alberto Giacometti's Suspended Ball to Robert and trick store. And the riddle by Isidore Ducasse, Rauschenberg's Bed, produced in 1955. also known as the Comte de Lautréamont: The ”Fetichism crypt“ designed by Mimi Parent ”Beautiful as the accidental encounter of a presented objects emphasising the fact that the sewing machine and an umbrella on a dissecting Surrealist object was consubstantially linked table“ – to which responded with a with eroticism. (room 11) ready-made, perpetuates its magic in Mark Dion's proliferation of postal packages. (central aisle) EXHIBITION AROUND THE 90 works from the museum's permanent collections EXHIBITION CURATOR and an architectural guide Didier Ottinger to the building. WORKSHOPS FOR YOUNGER €5, reduced price €4, VISITORS free for under-13s PRODUCTION MANAGER "Cadavres exquis" Cathy Gicquel Workshops for 6-12 year olds, with On hire at the ticket office, level 0 their families Withdrawal at the audioguide area, ARCHITECT/STAGE DESIGNER Saturdays 11, 18 and 25 January / level 0 Pascal Rodriguez 1 and 8 February From 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm With the support of: INFORMATIONS Les Z'hybrides Workshops for 3-5 year olds, with 01 44 78 12 33 their families www.centrepompidou.fr Saturdays 11, 18 and 25 January / Grand mécène 1 and 8 February EXHIBITION OPEN TO THE PUBLIC From 3 pm to 4.30 pm 30 October 2013 to 3 March 2014 In media partnership with: Galerie 1, level 6 Prices Every day except Tuesdays from With family member €10 (1 child + 11.00 am to 9.00 pm 1 adult) / Extra person €8 / reduced Ticket offices close at 8.00 pm. price €8 (ticket provides access to Late night opening: Thursdays until the Children's gallery and to the 11.00 pm Musée National d'Art Moderne) Ticket offices close at 10.00 pm. Online ticketing www. centrepompidou.fr/billetterie PRICES IMPROMPTU Admission with the "Museum & Family "impromptu" session, Exhibitions" pass Valid the same day for one "Surrealist Games" Sunday 5 January 2014 admission to each area Children's Workshop / Open all day, at the Museum, for all exhibitions, PUBLICATIONS from aged 3 and up and for the View of Paris Free, booking not required €13; reduced price €10 DICTIONARY Free with the annual Pass and for Dictionnaire de l’objet surréaliste, GUIDED TOURS those under 18 edited by Didier Ottinger Saturdays and Sundays at 5.30 pm, Purchase and printing online Co-published by Éditions du Centre Wednesdays at 7 pm (full price tickets only) www. Pompidou/Éditions Gallimard €4.50, reduced price €3.50 + centrepompidou.fr/billetterie 336 p., 200 ill. "Museum & Exhibitions" ticket Price: €39.90 at reduced price TWITTER ALBUM You can find the exhibition TAILOR-MADE TOURS Le Surréalisme et l’objet on Twitter - Tours for the partially-sighted By Emmanuel Guigon #Surrealisme Saturday 16 November, 10.00 am 60 p., 51 colour illustrations http://www.twitter.com/ - Lip-reading tour for the hard of Price: €9,90 centrepompidou hearing "MONOGRAPHS/MOVEMENTS" Saturday 16 November, 11.00 am COLLECTION - Tour in French sign language for © , Direction des Surréalisme the deaf Publics, Service de l’Information des Publics et de la Médiation, 2013 By Didier Ottinger Saturday 16 November, 2.30 pm 96 p., 55 ill. Leaflet based on texts in the exhibition Price : €11,90 AUDIOGUIDE catalogue Languages: French, English, FOR YOUNGER AUDIENCES Spanish, German and Italian Graphic design Le Surréalisme à l’usage c-album A guided tour of the exhibition des enfants "Le Surréalisme et l’objet". Printed by 60 p., 50 colour illustrations You can also discover nearly Friedling Graphique, Rixheim, 2013 Price: €12