Date of Award

2023

Document Type

MA Project - Open Access

Project Type

MA Project - Curatorial Proposal

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Fine and Decorative Art and Design

First Advisor

Agnes Berecz

Second Advisor

Morgan Falconer

Abstract

An exhibition of work spanning the works of five late North American and Latin American born or naturalized female Surrealist artists, Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), Leonora Carrington (1917-2011), Remedios Varo (1908-1963), Leonor Fini (1907-1996) and Dorothea Tanning (1910-2012). Untamed explores themes of female existence, alchemy, astrology, dreams and symbolism through painting works on paper and photography. Between the dark years during the first world war, the second world war and postwar, Surrealism as a means of possibility to live a dream-like life were the theory behind this artist's body of work. The deception of dreams, parallel realities and profound studies into the occult is what relates to the work of the woman Surrealist, it is not about being a member of Andrés Breton's godfather of Surrealism members-only club, but it is about a shared philosophical ideology on the meaning of life that ties the works of the chosen artists under the title of Surrealism. Independent, defiant and often misunderstood figures, obsessed with parallel realities, these women did not look to be tamed, turning to art as a means of self-expression, creating the female view of Surrealism. Being a woman can only be understood by a woman. Inside the female subconscious mind lies a world of possibilities, pain and fantasy.

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