For many years I have enjoyed the
art of the Surrealists – in particular the work of Salvador Dali. In the 1930s,
when the movement was at its peak, painting, sculpture and prose were the
dominant art forms that the Surrealists used to express their individual
interpretations of dreams and psychic states. Photography was generally viewed
at this time as an objective medium for realism and therefore hardly suitable
for artists wishing to express their thoughts in an abstract or ‘dreamlike’
form. However, the Surrealists’ love of experimentation and invention not only
overcame this potential hurdle but led to the discovery and development of new
photographic techniques. By the time the Surrealist movement faded as war broke
out in Europe some of its finest and most memorable works had been produced in
photographic form.
Whilst the contribution of Man
Ray to photographic art (photograms, solarisation etc.) is generally considered
to have been of the greatest importance, my own work for this project has been
influenced more by the montages and double exposures that were (painstakingly,
in the darkroom) produced by Surrealist photographers, many of whom remained
largely unknown and/or unheralded. A number of these works were included in
‘The Radical Eye’ exhibition at Tate Modern in 2016-17 (see elsewhere for a
Review). I will mention here just a small number of examples of Surrealist work
to give a flavour of how they were not just ahead of the times but how they also
influenced my current project work.
Herbert Bayer (1900-1985) came
from the Bauhaus school of photographers but produced several imaginative,
hallucinatory photomontages that were absolutely typical of the output of the
Surrealists. “Lonely Metropolitan” (Image 1) is perhaps his best known work –
the use of hands and the overlay motif can be found in my current project work.
Bayer loved to experiment in the darkroom in order to produce apparently
impossible photographic effects: a typical example of this can be seen in my
review of “The Radical Eye” exhibition.
Image 1. Herbert Bayer: "Lonely Metropolitan" (1932)
Erotic subjects were commonplace
in the work of the Surrealists and Heinz Hajek-Halke’s montage, “Erotica –
Close Up” (Image 2), is a typical example. Once again, the overlaying of one
photograph over selected parts of another photograph has been liberally used in
my current project work.
Image 2. Heinz Hajek-Halke: "Erotica - Close Up" (1930)
Double exposures were also
liberally used by the Surrealists. An interesting example is the photograph of
Max Ernst, one of the driving forces in the Surrealist movement, by the
Surrealist photographer Frederick Sommer (Image 3). Ernst was himself a
prolific polymath, who produced many photo-collages in his lifetime. The use of
digital double and multiple exposures has formed a major part of my repertoire
in the current project.
Image 3. Frederick Sommer: "Max Ernst" (1946)
Of course photography does not always have to resort to
trickery and darkroom techniques in order to influence my work. Lee Miller
(1907-78) was best known as Man Ray’s assistant and muse, but was an extremely
accomplished photographer in her own right (see my post reviewing the major
retrospective exhibition of her work at the Imperial War Museum). Her photograph “Portrait of Space” (Image 4),
with the camera apparently looking out onto a barren land through torn fabric,
provided me with ideas for a couple of my own images. It is sad and ironic
that, like my mother, Miller struggled with clinical depression in her later
years.
Image 4. Lee Miller: "Portrait of Space" (1937)
Whilst I have cited specific
examples of Surrealists’ work that has influenced me in this post their use of
experimentation, abstract ideas and novel concepts has also provided me with
inspiration for my current project, as well as for past projects. It is
reasonable to assume that my future work will also be influenced by Surrealism.
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