What is surrealism and when did it emerge? 5 artists to know
What is surrealism?
In the context of the avant-gardes of the 1920s, surrealism emerged, an artistic and literary movement that expressed the thoughts of the unconscious. Strongly influenced by the psychoanalytic theories of psychologist Sigmund Freud, in 1924, André Breton wrote the Surrealist Manifesto. The irrational, dreams and madness become the main theme of surrealist artistic production. Meet five artists who explored the surrealist movement.
Salvador Dalí
By creating a plastic language with fascinating compositions, the Spanish artist Salvador Dalí (1904–1989) became one of the main figures of surrealism. This movement, which fits into the avant-garde of the 1920s, proposed the transposition and liberation of the unconscious in plastic experiences. His works «The Temptation of St. Anthony» (1946) and «The Persistence of Memory» (1931) presented at the time a completely innovative way of understanding the irrational, through objects such as melted clocks and extraordinary animals. In addition to being a visual artist, Salvador Dalí He was a writer, filmmaker and cultivated his eccentric personality throughout his career, based on his behavioral and physical characteristics, such as his famous mustache and his pet an anteater.
Cruzeiro Seixas
The Portuguese artist Cruzeiro Seixas (1920-2020) is one of the great names of surrealism in Portugal. In his vast artistic production, he went through several phases, from expressionism to neo-realism, until reaching surrealism. He explored different techniques and supports, transmitting a constant poetic and plastic freedom. His drawings, paintings and sculptures included the metaphysical landscapes of Giorgio de Chirico and the metamorphic figurations of Salvador Dali. Through the contrasts between black and white, he developed a very personal imaginary universe. He dreamed and imagined, without aesthetic or moral impositions, in the world of plastic art, but also of poetry. He was a frequent promoter of surrealist aesthetics in Portugal.
Alfredo Luz
In the colors of memory, Alfredo Luz (1951) creates in his paintings a set of fragments that are brought together by his senses and thoughts. Divided between the experiences of rural and urban life, he conceives a complex discourse about his views of the everyday world. What seems ordinary becomes another element surrounded by charm and lightness. His creative universe is presented, based on his technical ability to create shapes with perfect color harmony, transmitting a feeling of purity, sensitivity and fantasy. He tends to collaborate with other surrealist artists such as Cruzeiro Seixas and Luzia Lages. He exhibits regularly in Portugal and abroad, having participated in the Contemporary Art Fair – Lisbon in 2006, Arte Madrid – Madrid in 2007, the International Surrealism Exhibition – Santiago de Chile in 2008, among others.
Mário Cesariny
Expressing your creativity and personality, through your artistic production, Mário Cesariny played a fundamental role in the panorama of Portuguese art. In his works composed of collages, poems and objects, we see that the creation process appeared in circles: from poems he created paintings and vice versa. Intensely expressing his dreams and desires for freedom, he was an artist who rejected the formal concerns of art, introducing new techniques and materials into his pieces. In 1949, he founded the group «Os Surrealistas», where he participated in the writing of the collective manifesto and in the first exhibition. This was not the only one to be promoted by Mário Cesariny, because throughout his life, he always played an active role in the dissemination and artistic production of surrealism. In addition to the visual arts, the Portuguese artist was a poet, critic and essayist, having exerted relevant influences on poetic generations in later decades.
Luzia Lage
Luzia Lage (1962) is a Portuguese artist who stands out for her surrealist-inspired works, with vibrant colors and portraits of human and animal expressions. He studied at the Escola Superior de Belas Artes in Lisbon and developed an artistic practice that mixes traditional elements of Portuguese art with surrealism. Lídia Jorge wrote about the author: “Through animist expressionism, her work reveals the rigor of drawing, the transfiguration of the body and freedom in space”; "Luzia Lage paints the perplexity of Life. The strength of dreams and the distance of sleep. The mystery of creativity and the limits of one's hands. The dazzle of the idea and the oscillation of matter…”. She was awarded the following prizes: 1st Press Prize in the Fine Arts category “Feminine Personality of Portugal 2009” and the International Prize: 1st Prize for Painting and Fidelity to Art awarded by the VeraWorld Fine Art Festival 2015. In addition to the many individual and collective exhibitions in who participates, the author works with public work, from this we highlight the three-dimensional tile panel - “Mães de Água”, CREL and the collective commemorative panel for the inauguration of the Casa do Artista in Lisbon, Commemorative mural and tribute to the work of Lídia Jorge , between others.