What is Surrealism? (a short guide)

The persistence of Memory

Salvador Dali

When you say the word 'Surrealism' most people will make an association with Salvidor Dali, the most prominent Surrealist in the past 30 years. But the Surrealist movement didn't start with Dali, and didn't even start as a movement of painters. It was originally a literary movement, with the principles first published in 1924 by Andre Breton in the Manifesto of Surrealism.



Although the roots of Surrealism can be found in the political ideas of the time and in Dada the core idea of Surrealism was to give free reign to the unconscious and the imagination, and is usually therefore symbolic in creation by the artist. That is what makes it such a 'freeing' art form. You can allow the mind to create any representation of thought or feeling, you need not have constraints, and although at first sight it may not make sense, it does have meaning.

Because of this, many Surrealist images allow a very personal interpretation - how the mind will put together and interpret an unusual juxtaposition of forms or objects, or a scene seemingly from an 'un-real' world will often be unique to each individual. The message or meaning a person derives from a Surrealist image will often be personal in thought and emotion. Surrealist images can be great discussion points, and fascinating in the discovery of how differently it can be interpreted between people, even if it is just a minor difference.

Surrealism isn't everyone's cup of tea -if you like a great sense of traditional form and structure in images you view, then it might not be for you. But rather than seek the 'familiar' why not explore what you do see there, what the images mean to you - you may be pleasantly surprised.