How surrealistic art shows the reality of life in an unreal way
Started in the 1920s as a small cultural movement, surrealism is a way of depicting absurd and illogical visual imagery and scenes as an art form. What makes the basis of surrealism art is that it focuses on normal subjects in our everyday life and present it in a dreamlike way almost making it seem unreal and out of this world. It is thought provoking and created to stimulate the complex mind of human beings. It seeks to reach a common ground between our majestic dreams and the true face of reality.
Surreal artists consider their work to be an expression of the great philosophical movement. Andre Breton, French writer and poet, claims that surrealism is primarily a revolutionary movement. He is also considered to be the founder of the Surrealism movement. Surreal art often juxtaposes bizarre subjects together, with a tinge of surprise and fallacies. Surrealism is a movement which was inspired by the Dada Movement or Dadaism during the first World War. The center of the entire movement was Paris for where it eventually spread throughout the world with its effects being seen in films, literature, art, music, etc. It also affected the political thought and expressions, social constructs in various parts of the world.
The expansion of this movement happened with meetings taking place in various places where Surrealists tried to collaborate and develop new methods of expressing their art. One such technique that came into being was automatic drawing. In this case, the hand is made free and allowed to randomly move across a canvas thus creating something that is free from any voluntary support. Several artists soon started showing their support towards the movement by incorporating surrealism in their works. Surrealism artists included people such as Salvador Dali, a renowned surreal artist and perhaps one of the most famous artists of the 20th century. His signature style included imagery which created an ethereal and hallucinatory effect on the human mind. He depicted these though his paintings, sculptures and also photography. Other notable people included Francis Picabia, Max Ernst, etc.
Surrealism played a huge role in changing the political scenario around the world. It divided people with communists taking the stand for surrealism. There was a constant battle going on between the communism and anarchism, the two parallels of surrealism and Dadaism back in the day.
Surrealism entered its golden age during the mid-20th century when several institutions and organisations came up solely based on surrealism and its depiction in art and literature. Numerous exhibitions were also held which showcased these works and eventually launched surrealistic art on a global platform. The visual imagery, which was both bizarre and compelling to look at, showed normal ordinary objects as something absurd which kindled the unconscious.
Today, surrealistic groups and institutions continue to flourish and create art which shows the beauty of the world in its own weird way. Barring paintings and sculptures, surrealism has also affected a huge section of artists in today’s world, with its effect being seen in several films and literary pieces.
