Surrealism is one of the most influential art movements in contemporary art. You find it in multiple spheres of visual art, literature and philosophy all around the world. It also played a major role in the rise of the feminist art movement. One of the primary characteristics of Surrealism is its being irrational. Surreal art is all about giving free rein to the subconscious and unlocking the power of your creative imagination.
Surrealism is one of the most influential art movements in contemporary art. When you hear surreal art, you most likely spontaneously think of the visual artworks that belong to that movement.
But Surrealism affected many more artistic spheres, including literature and philosophy. It also played a major role in the rise of the feminist art movement.
One of the main characteristics of Surrealism is its irrationality. Surreal art is all about giving free rein to your subconscious mind and unlocking the power of your creative imagination.
Sounds interesting? Let’s have a closer look at the Surrealism art movement…
What does ‘Surreal’ mean in Art?
Surrealism developed in the aftermath of World War I in the 1920s in Europe. Many people saw the cause for WWI in the excessive rational ways of thinking and the materialistic attitude of the middle and upper classes at the time.
This led to a counter-movement, with many artists embracing the exact opposite – chaos and irrationalism. Surrealists believed in the power of the unconscious. They were fascinated by the notion of ‘unconscious desires’.
Unconscious desires means all desires that you have but are consciously not aware of. The goal of the early surrealist artists was to dive deep into their unconscious mind and seek inspiration and creativity from there.
In Surrealism, everything is possible: fish can swim in the air, birds can fly in the water, a tree can grow out of a woman’s head, or a man can be sitting on a cloud.
What does that remind you of? Yes, dreams and fantasies!
Surrealism is all about Dreams and Fantasies
Surreal art features dream-like characteristics that are being expressed in the works. There is no need for logic, you can let your imagination run wild and have fun with it!
This emphasis on dreams and the subconscious is clearly influenced by the theories of Sigmund Freud, a prominent psychoanalyst in Germany at the time.
In fact, artists used to seek psychoanalysis because they wanted to know about the inner workings of their mind. They also wanted to bring up feelings that society wanted to be suppressed. This concerned in particular feelings relating to sexuality and violence.
Surrealist artist were (or still are…) very much opposed to the oppressive rules of society. In that respect, surrealism is very similar to pop surrealism, as the name suggests.
Surrealists believed that using their subconscious as the source of their artistic creativity would allow them to break free from the conventional, rational order of society.
What makes an Artwork Surreal?
A surrealist artwork can be of many types: it can be painting, sculpture, photography, digital composition, literature and many, many more.
That means regardless of the medium, a surreal artwork is always fantastical and imaginative. It takes the viewer (or the reader) into a fantasy world. It allows them to escape from reality for a shorter or longer bit of time, depending on how long the surreal book you’re reading is or how long you marvel at the artwork…
A surreal artwork simply expresses what was going on in the creator’s mind at that point of time. The inspiration can come from images or sceneries seen in dreams. It can also be a vision that popped up in the creator’s mind as they were creating the artwork. There’s no need for rational understanding!
Surrealism tells Stories
Surreal art often tells a story. The artist can use symbols or create certain sceneries to do so. These symbols or sceneries may remind the viewer of a certain event or make them feel a certain emotion, etc.
→ 5 Steps To Make Storytelling Through Artwork Effective
The viewer then can – and most likely automatically will – interpret everything in their own way according to the wiring of their subconscious mind.
This freedom is probably the reason why Surrealism has gained so much influence all over world. Plenty of artists of many different genres love to work with surreal elements exactly because of this freedom.
Surreal artworks also belong to the most widely collected items worldwide in modern art.
So… Why is Surrealism Art Important?
As we have seen, the key characteristics of Surrealism involve tapping into the unconscious and finding inspiration in dreams. That way, surrealist expression can help enter repressed memories and emotions. It can help bring up underlying, often unexplainable, fears and anxieties and give everything a creative outlet.
It offers the potential to turn weakness into creative power. The weird, dissociative world of dreams is the fuel for Surrealism.
→ How To Overcome The Fear of Creativity – 10 Lifehacks For Creators
Chances are you know that dream where you are running and running with all your might but you just can’t move ahead? Or where you are in a fun house with a thousand mirrors but you just can’t find the way out?
You’ve probably also had that dream where you were standing at your door, you’ve put the key into the lock but you are just not able to turn it and open the door. And for sure, you know that infamous one where you’re free-falling to your death.
All such themes inspire surrealists to create the images, sculptures, texts, and so on that come out of that movement.
Three of the early key visual artists of Surrealism are René Magritte, Salvador Dali, and Frida Kalho. They used dream imagery and images from their unconscious mind to portray ideas in their works.
Magritte’s goal, for instance, was to create art that made the viewer think.
(All images displayed in this post are copyright to their respective owners and solely used for educational purposes.)
What inspires you to create surreal art? Let me know in the comments! If you enjoyed this post about what Surreal means in art, consider sharing it with other artists! I see you soon, Angie 😘
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