The return of the surreal 

Mythical, dreamlike, phantasmagorical, and absurd: Surrealism, which took the art world by storm in the early 20th century, has enjoyed a huge resurgence in the past decade. 

The original pioneers of the movement have been receiving new attention and admiration. Early this year, Salvador Dali’s painting ‘Bacchanale’ sold for a whopping €254,400 at auction, and exhibitions displaying the work of Leonora Carrington were held in both London and Paris this summer. Contemporary artists have also been turning to themes of the irrational and the unconscious in their own work, producing a second wave of surreal artworks to be enjoyed and analysed. However, for a movement that was heavily intertwined with its contemporary science, politics, and culture, it’s extremely unusual to see a huge resurgence a century after its creation. 

Artist Paulo Nimer Pjota rose to fame recently with his summer exhibition ‘Encantandos’ at the South London Gallery, displaying 11 large-scale works, all depicting different, mystical, mythological scenes, figures and animals against a number of magical, dream-like backdrops. Pushing the boundaries of traditional painting, he made the gallery space a part of his landscapes, painting a large-scale mural on all four walls, inviting them to physically step into his artworks, challenging the traditional limitations of the canvas. He combined both modern culture, such as Brazilian hip-hop and rap music, and the images and styles seen in street art, with ancient myths and legends to create a unique painted landscape. His incredible exhibition displayed the new direction of contemporary Surrealism and reflects the interest and enthusiasm of the public towards this new wave of dream-like, imaginary images. With new art forms and media readily available and accessible, and the rapid changes of technology seen in the last decade, how will this modern renaissance of the surreal be different from its origins? What can we expect from the return of the surreal?

It’s impossible to mention this resurgence without acknowledging the influence of AI and the accessibility of dream-like, absurd images. In the last few years, the visual content we consume, whether in person or online, has been flooded with artificially generated images and videos, and as technology advances, it’s becoming more and more difficult to differentiate between the real and the fake. The status of photographs as truthful reproductions of reality has declined, and roles such as graphic designers and illustrators are at risk. This influx of artificial images has divided the art world: some artists embrace technological advancements to advance their own techniques and support their creativity, offering a fresh medium for their art forms. Artist Zach Blas has been exploring this intersection in his own art, navigating the new artistic possibilities provided by new technology, whilst simultaneously highlighting its potential dangers and downfalls. For example, his work ‘Icosahedron’, an AI chatbot residing in an electronic sphere, combines computer monitors with the familiar Magic 8 Ball toy, inviting visitors to interact with it, providing mystical answers to their questions or ‘predictions’ for the future, akin to a Tolkien-esque magic orb. However, through interaction with the artwork, the limits of the chatbot are revealed, shattering the illusion of an omniscient knowledge source and the availability of personalised algorithms and answers.  

Surrealism is simultaneously an introspective art style, taking inspiration from personal experiences, emotions, and the psyche as a way of revolting against rationality, rather than just responding to external factors. By translating the unconscious activities of the human mind into dream-like visual scenes, Surrealism mainly aimed to engage with the unconscious mind and encourage artistic expression, often informed by the developing understanding of human psychology. However, knowledge of the human subconscious has advanced from the days of Dalí and Carrington, with greater understanding of how the brain processes information and the impact of culture on our psyche. 

Contemporary artists have been using these psychological developments as inspiration. Artist and researcher Albert Barque-Duran combines his fields of study in cognitive technology with new media techniques as a way of showing the intersections of art and science. His research informs his art, infusing his images with his developing understanding of how the human brain works and understanding the mechanics of human creativity.  He describes his work as offering a “reinterpretation-actualisation of the surrealist movement through contemporary   knowledge”, with his art depicting ordinary objects in bizarre combinations or eerily out of place. 

In a similar vein, contemporary artist Julie Curtiss has also adopted modern psychological developments within her work, intertwining them with developing understandings of sociology and gender studies, including ideas of femininity, heteronormativity, and examining psychological theories in the modern world as themes for her work. She examines the position of women in society using distorted and warped depictions of everyday objects or familiar images. In theme, her work is similar to that of Carrington, working almost 100 years earlier. However, Curtiss, taking inspiration from pop art and illustrations, adopts modern techniques such as acrylic or vinyl to produce shiny, sterile, faceless figures in exposed positions. This physical barrier detrails the viewer’s gaze, pushing them closer to a voyeur than the central eye of traditional art.  

Overall, this resurgence in Surrealism challenges the traditional conceptions of how we view and interact with art. While the subject matter, the absurd distortion of everyday objects, and the creation of dream-like irrational scenes and scenarios have largely persevered, the mediums in which art is created and the ways in which we are interacting with it are being changed and reshaped by contemporary surrealists. The art created embraces modernity, intertwining aspects of modern culture with ancient myth, and using new opportunities provided by greater knowledge and technology to inform their art, whilst simultaneously highlighting their faults, displaying the conjunctions and challenges in the current art world.