What is Surrealism?
The word "Surreal" has become a common part of our everyday language and is generally used to describe what is strange and unfamiliar. The term was first coined by Guillaume Apollinaire in 1903 and in the 1920's it was appropriated by the self proclaimed "leader" of the Surrealist Movement - André Breton.
The prefix “Sur” means “over, above,” “in addition,” - Think of words like surcharge – surface – surpass.
The term “Realism” in art practice is generally defined as the attempt to represent subject matter truthfully – to depict “reality” as best can be.
Contrary to how the term is used today, surrealistic art is NOT simply about creating strangeness or unleashing monsters: Surrealist expression is a creative tool for unlocking a means to see “above” or “beyond” general conceptions of reality.
“Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision.” - Salvador Dali
developed out of Dada https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/themes/dada
Andre Brenton's First Surrealist Manifesto - https://tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T340/F98/SurrealistManifesto.htm
I found this great video on Surrealism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPD6okhfGzs
Max Ernst - 2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976 - Surrealist Collage ( 5 min video Ernst's collages - https://www.tes.com/lessons/KpbdtrI-cfeZNw/surrealist-collage-influenced-by-max-ernst
Meret Oppenheim - 6 October 1913 – 15 November 1985
Rene Magritte 21 November 1898 – 15 August 1967
Salvator Dali, Remedios Varo, Man Ray - Google surrealist collage for many, many more examples
