This is why I very soon divided myself into two halves

November 19, 2015 1:44 AM

"Here is the Doll" (NSFW) Exclaimed Hans Bellmer when he first met Unica Zürn who became the muse behind LaPoupee
Zurn: From my earliest childhood, the first woman’s eyes I encountered conveyed the same uncontrollable anguish spiders cause me…This is why I very soon divided myself into two halves
Zurn was artistically known as an anagrammatical poet and for her line drawings.
Bellmer indulged in bondage, tying Zurn whom he then photographed.
Her book Trumpets of Jericho has just been republished and reviewed.
posted by adamvasco (6 comments total)

Extremely interesting to me. A little snippet illustrating why:

Zürn’s drawings, many of them created during her institutionalization at Sainte-Anne Hospital in Paris and drawn into notebooks given to her by Michaux, are magical meditations drawn directly from the mind. Her use of automatism and entopic graphomania, pure Surrealist techniques, give her drawings a fluidity while also giving them a window into her obsessions, dreams, nightmares, and even her difficult relationship with Bellmer (complicated further by her relationship with Michaux).
posted by rmmcclay at 4:13 AM on November 19, 2015

I have seen a couple of the photographs of her, but not her own artwork. It sounds like she was extremely troubled, but turned that into her art. As one of the links notes, it is unfortunately common that women artists are discussed largely through their relationships with men, rather than on their own terms.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:33 AM on November 19, 2015

Anaander Mianaai?!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:37 AM on November 19, 2015 [3 favorites]

...it is unfortunately common that women artists are discussed largely through their relationships with men, rather than on their own terms.

Agreed Dip Flash, which is why I'm super-excited for the publication of Unica Zürn: Art, Writing and Post-War Surrealism, the first English text meant to address that gap.

That and [full disclosure] I'm friends with friends of the writer. Regardless, Zurn is amazing and I'm glad for more light being cast on artists who have long lived in the shadows of others. Great post adamvasco.
posted by Chichibio at 5:42 AM on November 19, 2015

Precursor to Deep Dream?
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:57 AM on November 19, 2015 [1 favorite]

Zurn is great! I read Dark Spring and really enjoyed it. Will have to track down Trumpets of Jericho! Thanks for the FPP, definitely helpful in learning more about her.
posted by wyndham at 12:13 PM on November 19, 2015