Surrealist Collaboration: Poetry, Art, Literature, Ingenuity and Life Itself
Past exhibition
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Kasmin is pleased to present the curated exhibition Surrealist Collaboration: Poetry, Art, Literature, Ingenuity and Life Itself, in collaboration with Timothy Baum. On view at 297 Tenth Avenue from January 20 through February 26, 2022, the exhibition will examine the diverse collaborations between Surrealist artists, with a strong focus on the Cadavre exquis. The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalogue with new text written by Timothy Baum.
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In addition to over 20 rarely-seen collaborative works, the exhibition will also present archival material that attests to the wide range of projects worked on by multiple artists, including manifestos, group discussions, publications, and films.
The Cadavre exquis works, co-created by major figures of surrealism such as André Breton, René Magritte, Yves Tanguy and Remedios Varo, alongside lesser-known artists from the period, are evocative of the integral cooperative aspect of Surrealism burgeoning in New York and Europe, particularly in Paris, from the 1920s and onwards. The dynamic contributions of numerous female Surrealists, including Nusch Éluard, Violette Hérold, Germaine Hugnet, Valentine Hugo, Jacqueline Lamba, and Jeannette Tanguy, are also highlighted. -
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Cadavre exquis evolved as a parlor game in 1925, the design of which is attributed to André Breton, Yves Tanguy, Jacques Prévert, and Marcel Duchamel during an evening of games in Paris. Folding a piece of paper into multiple horizontal panels, each artist would take a turn to illustrate a section with the caveat that they could not look at the other artists’ contributions while producing their own. Once each section was completed, the paper would be unfolded to reveal an inventive and surreal composition.
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Creases in the paper allowed some continuity, but the rest was left to chance. Play, a crucial component of the Surrealist process, was understood to lessen the instinct for order, engage the unconscious and bring forth otherwise sublimated images. Exploiting the phenomenon of the happy accident, Cadavre exquis culminates in the revelation, once unfolded, of comic, grotesque and nonsensical images, varied in their styles and imagination.
For further information on this exhibition, contact info@kasmingallery.com
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Works
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