Surreal Adventures

February 13, 2012 7:36 AM

LACMA is currently hosting "In Wonderland", a retrospective of Surrealist art by female artists from Mexico and the United States.  This is a great chance to check out some under-appreciated artists, who were often overshadowed by their male counterparts.

Frida Kahlo is there of course, probably the only exception to the statement above, but there are many paintings by the 47 other artists as well. I was happy to see several paintings by Remedios Varo (one of my favorites, and someone I've mentioned before.) Other pieces that caught my eye were by Dorothea Tanning, Alice Rahon, and Bridget Tichenor.

Mexico seemed to have been a haven for many European Surrealists who were driven from Europe during WWII. In addition to Varo, Rahon, and Tichenor, Leonora Carrington, Kati Horna, and Isabelle Waldberg all adopted Mexico as their second home, and many were influenced by native mesoamerican art.  American Surrealists in the exhibition include Gertrude Abercrombie, and photographer Francesca Woodman.

The exhibition primarily features paintings, but also includes a few photographers and sculptors. If you can't make  it to LA before May 6, there's always the show catalog.

posted by CheeseDigestsAll (5 comments total)

Great! Thanks for the head's up -- I'll have to get over to see it.
posted by Celsius1414 at 7:43 AM on February 13, 2012

Could you maybe add a "losangeles" tag?
posted by Celsius1414 at 8:24 AM on February 13, 2012

Saw this last week. It was fantastic
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 10:14 AM on February 13, 2012

I wish I could go! Kahlo if course is one of the Great Ones, but it is good to see these others out of the shadows. Thanks for posting this!
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 11:42 AM on February 13, 2012

I have been trying to remember Dorothea Tanning's and Leonora Carrington's names for ages - thank you! Too bad I won't be in LA while this is running - I'd love to check it out.
posted by Neely O'Hara at 2:24 PM on February 22, 2012