Surrealism and SoulCollage®

Victor Brauner | Romania/France 1903–66 | Loup-table (Wolf-table)1939, 1947 | Wood and taxidermied fox | 54 x 57 x 28.5 cm | Donation of Jacqueline Victor-Brauner 1982 | Collection: Musée national d'art moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris © Victor Brauner/ADAGP. Licensed by Viscopy, Sydney, 2011

Yesterday afternoon I visited the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) here in Brisbane to attend the gallery members' preview for 'Surrealism: The Poetry of Dreams', an exhibition which is visiting from the Pompidou Centre in Paris. Wow! Surrealism is so much more than just Dali!  We were extremely fortunate that Didier Ottinger, Deputy Director of the Pompidou Centre, presented a floor talk, during which I was struck by how much Surrealism and SoulCollage® have in common, most notably, of course, both work by accessing the subconscious. The director spoke about how, in Surrealism, the juxtaposition of disparate elements into a new image creates the "spark" from which a "new mythology" can emerge. And it seems to me, that's exactly how SoulCollage® works!

This is a very comprehensive exhibition, 180 works by 56 artists, tracing the history of the movement from the 1920s up to the 1960s. It includes paintings, collages, sculptures, drawings, photographs and films. I was thrilled to find, too, a lovely little assemblage by Joseph Cornell.

One of the features of GoMA is the wonderful purpose-built Children's Art Centre incorporated into the gallery which runs fun and fabulous activities in conjunction with all major exhibitions. Yesterday I was able to check out the latest Surrealist activities for little and big children, and now can't wait to get my Inner Child back there to create some Surrealistic sculptures and collages! The children can email pictures of their creations to themselves, their friends and family, from the centre, so watch this space for mine!

The exhibition runs until 2nd October and my suggestion is - go!  Here's the link to the information on the gallery website. 

Meanwhile, if you'd like to have your own surrealistic experience with SoulCollage®, come along to my latest SoulCollage® workshop (below) or contact me to register your interest for a future workshop.

René Magritte | Belgium 1898–1967 | Le modèle rouge (The red model)1935 | Oil on canvas mounted on cardboard | 56 x 46cm | Purchased 1975 | Collection: Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris | © René Magritte/ADAGP. Licensed by Viscopy, Sydney, 2011

Click here for a slideshow of some of the works.