NCHS Computer Assisted Arts

Who: 3 early surrealists were Kay Sage, artist from 1938 to 1958, Man Ray, 1922 to 1963, and Salvador Dali, 1910 to 1983.

What:

Kay Sage

This Kay Sage piece shows large structures that seems to be so tall that no land is visible in this picture. These structures resemble the framework of sky-scrappers and within these frameworks are a kind of swirly columns that may have been for statues.

Man Ray

This Man Ray piece shows a woman, probably asleep, holding her head in her arms. Beyond what I can actually see, it may represent how women during the time period felt. Oppression and all that.

Salvador Dali

Just about everyone will use Dali's clock art, so I chose this Salvador Dali piece showing a large fish eating a tiger and another tiger attacking a rifle. This depicts an alternative kind of food chain that is backwards with reality.



When: The surrealism movement began in 1924, though the term was first coined in 1917. This takes place in between World Wars 1 and 2.



Why: They sought to channel the unconscious as a means to unlock the power of the imagination, believing the conscious mind repressed the power of the imagination. They hoped that the psyche could reveal the contradictions in the everyday world and spur on revolution and believed that revelations could be found on the street and in everyday life.

 

Where: The movement began in Paris by a small group of artists and writers.

The significance of these artists supplying the public with this kind of art is that it shows that the crazy, goofy or even creepy images we see in our minds can still be used to create art so we shouldn't be afraid of our imagination. Instead, we should embrace it and send it out into the world as exiting or frightening art pieces.