100 years of surrealism
2024 marks the centenary of the first publication of the first of the two Surrealist manifestos, in which André Breton formulated the theoretical foundations of one of the most important intellectual movements of modernity – the revolutionary mindset that fought on the front line against the bankrupt traditional values and norms that had become implausible by the First World War at the latest.
Based on Dada and influenced by the writings of Sigmund Freud, the Surrealists – initially in Paris, later internationally – propagated a completely new view of the world and life. The dreamlike, the unconscious, the absurd, the fantastic were – and still are – essential characteristics of her poetic and artistic expression.
Although, on the one hand, surrealism has long since become classic and museum-like, it still plays a role in literature, the visual arts, film and theater that should not be underestimated. 20. and/or 21. is conceivable without this background. (This does not refer to the countless epigones who serve up bland rehashes of Dali’s soft watches or Magritte’s men in bowler hats etc. to the present day).
The flip side of the coin: not least the mind-numbing advertising, commercial graphics and the producers of pop music clips and video games have been drawing on surrealist imagery for decades in a quasi-parasitic – and only rarely convincing – manner.
In general, the adjective surreal or surrealistic unfortunately has to be used today as reflexively as inflationarily for anything and everything that is somehow strange, eccentric, in short “weird”. At the same time, once provocative surreal shock effects (the legendary razor blade through the eye in Buñuel’s “An Andalusian Dog”) have largely lost their irritating and startling effect in an age in which we are constantly “supplied” with real shock images via all media channels.
One of the outstanding merits of the now “historical” Surrealism is that it gave the visual arts a multitude of new methods, approaches and techniques: Collage, assemblage and object art are almost inconceivable without their surrealist pioneers and their inventiveness and love of experimentation. Concept art, environment or performance, for example, and even abstract painting owe a great deal to movement. And last but not least, it should be pointed out that women have played a comparably strong and influential role in no other intellectual-artistic movement of the past hundred years.
It comes as no surprise that numerous exhibitions and events are taking place around the world to mark the anniversary of Breton’s “Manifesto” as the intellectual spark for surrealism.
Invitation to the vernissage at the Grevy Gallery
For the 100th anniversary. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of André Breton’s first Surrealist manifesto, we cordially invite you to a special exhibition at the Grevy Gallery. In this commemorative year, we have invited eleven outstanding artists to present their own contemporary homage to this influential movement.
Surrealism has had a lasting impact on the art world and continues to inspire creative exploration of the unconscious, the dreamlike and the absurd. Our exhibition shows how the ideas and techniques of this revolutionary movement have been reinterpreted in modern art.
Ercan Arslan | Helmut Brand | Jens Emde | Ralf Kardes | Ursula Krenzler | Susanne Pareike | Ivana Pittrof | Norberto Luis Romero | Jun Schäffer | Peter Schneider | Bernd Straub Molitor | Tony Strnad
September 27 to October 25, 2024
Vernissage September 27, 2024 6-9 p.m.
Finissage October 25, 2024 6-9 p.m.
Opening hours
Thursdays and Fridays 3 to 7 p.m.
Saturdays 12 to 4 p.m. and by appointment
