Drawing Surrealism

(Los Angeles, August 10, 2012)-The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) presents Drawing Surrealism, the first large-scale loan exhibition to focus on drawing as a prevailing form of expression for surrealist artists. Co-organized by LACMA and the Morgan Library & Museum, the show features 250 works by nearly 100 artists from fifteen countries. While institutional appreciation for surrealism typically fixates on painting and sculpture, surrealists found drawing to be the most innovative and immediate means of artistic expression. Drawing Surrealism highlights LACMA’s burgeoning collection of surrealist works on paper and is a testament to the museum’s ongoing recognition of surrealism’s vital role in art history, demonstrated by a wealth of relevant exhibitions in recent years, including Magritte and Contemporary Art: The Treachery of Images, Dalí: Painting & Film, and In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States.

“Drawing Surrealism is a celebration of innovation through drawing, which, in my opinion, is the medium best suited to experimentation and risk-taking,” says Leslie Jones, Curator of Prints and Drawings at LACMA. “The exhibition also addresses the international impact of surrealism by including artists from areas beyond Western Europe like Eastern Europe, the Americas, and Japan.”

Surrealism’s lasting impact on drawing is addressed within the exhibition by three contemporary projects by Los Angeles-based artists Alexandra Grant, Mark Licari, and Stas Orlovski that were conceived specifically for Drawing Surrealism. In addition and as part of the exhibition programming, artists Jim Shaw and Sterling Ruby will each be giving walkthroughs of the exhibition from their unique and individual perspectives on October 25 and November 15, respectively.

Image credits:

André Masson, Délire végétal, (c. 1925), Private collection, Paris © 2012 Andre Masson Estate/ARS/ADAGP, Paris

Matta (Roberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurren), Original art for "Maldoror", c.1938, Private collection © 2012 Roberto-Sebastián Matta Echaurren Estate/ARS/ADAGP, Paris

Andre Breton; Yves Tanguy; Jacqueline Lamba, Cadavre exquis (1938), © 2012 Andre Breton Estate, © 2012 Jacqueline Lamba Estate/ARS/ADAGP, Paris, © 2012 Estate of Yves Tanguy/ARS. Photo © 2012 Museum Associates/LACMA, by Herve Lewandowski

Eileen Agar, Ladybird, 1936, Andrew and Julia Murray, Norfolk, U.K. © 2012 Eileen Agar Estate, Redfern Gallery, London, Photo by Chris Harrison