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Whereas traditional surrealism is historically dominated by the male 'household names',
many contemporary artist's are in the process of reclaiming 'surrealism', and the influence
of the original female surrealists.
Who WERE the female surrealists?
A search in Google for "female surrealist" produces relatively few results, and the vast majority of sites listed refer to a single academic source
from the University of Illinois
(this one - with 14 links for further reading).
Similarly, a search for "contemporary female surrealist" produces only one result 'worlwide'.
"Female Surrealists have been, again, left out of the way art history is presented."
(Z Wire News).
Of the original female surrealists, Léonor FINI is infamous for 'getting her kit off' at
social gatherings, being bisexual, and her dislike of Breton's authoritarianism.
The glbtq encyclopedia describes Fini's work as
advancing an "ideal of the 'autonomous, absolute woman,'
who was beautiful, domineering and 'governed by passion.'"
Further suggesting that "...Fini's work may in fact be seen as a response to the patriarchal assumptions of Surrealism."
One of Fini's exhibitions (sixty years before Tracy Emin) featured four soiled and unmade beds –
with a live actress cavorting in one of them. So, is Tracy Emin a contemporary female surrealist?
And what about the "Suicide Girls" or
Jill Posener?
"Making a link between contemporary work and traditional Surrealist art seems daring.
Is it important to promote Surrealism as a way to view contemporary art and not merely a
historical movement?"
(Dore Bowen)
"When confronted with the problem of self-representation, women artists coming from
many different perspectives and positions over a significant length of time have resorted to
similar strategies. At the same time, we need to remember that the contemporary work is
mediated by discourses that were not present during the historical Surrealist movement."
(Whitney Chadwick)
[from: a dialogue with Whitney Chadwick - author and San Francisco State University art history professor]
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2479/is_6_26/ai_54869103 ]
Who ARE the female surrealists?
Cindy Sherman:
"It seems boring to me to pursue the typical idea of beauty, because that is the easiest
or the most obvious way to see the world. It's more challenging to look at the other side,"
article |
photographs (click on Sherman at top of page)
Tacita Dean:
"She draws out not only the objective world but also our inner world and
traces the complex interface between the two.
Her films depict locations and events that often seem out of time with the
present state of things"
(press release - Frith Street Gallery November 2004)
Yayoi Kusama:
"Her work has been described as minimalist, feminist, obsessive, surreal, and abstract expressionist.
However, Kusama's energetic presence and artistic expression has defied strict labelling.
She constantly challenges notions of contemporary art and her own notions of art."
(UNSW-COFA)
According to the 'recordists' contemporary surrealism is 'Alive and Well',
and the fact that hundreds of artists have submitted work to this site must mean that surrealism has a
contemporary resonance.
Contemporary female surrealists in our gallery:
Jasmine MADDOCK,
Pauline JONES,
Dina Lenkovic,
Tracy.L.Picton,
Anika Parker
Contemporary female surrealists in our archives:
d'Holbachie YOKO,
Anne WORBES,
Katie WILLIAMS,
Nardia WARNER,
Cynthia TOM,
Kristi SUTTON,
Joanne SCHEMBRI,
Sylvie ROBERT,
CK PURANDARE,
Sylvia PECHA,
Claudia OLIVOS,
Francesca NOBILE,
Maria MUCHARSKA,
MOON,
Catherine MILNE,
Helen McNULTY,
Kathleen LOLLEY,
Janet LEE,
Monica KOVAC,
Suzanne ILES,
Moira HILL,
Flora HAMIDI,
Tina GULOTTA,
Jade Christina.GREEN,
Susan. GRAVES,
Judy GRACE,
Mandy COLLINS.
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