Dreamsland from the Collection

On View through August 18, 2024

When we look at art that shows us imaginary places and happenings, we can look to the influence of Surrealism which began in Paris in the 1920’s. It is a movement in art and literature that brought the unconscious and dreams into the creative acts in writing and art. We are often confronted with the unexpected when looking at art, such as we see here. Art that is made from memory. Art that is made from a dream or perhaps from accessing the unconscious, as part of the creative process.

These works of art exhibit the familiar in unfamiliar ways. In the ways they are created, we are engaging with the choices made by the artists to find meaning, if even in the nonsensical. There may be exaggerated color, of forms, figures that seem to be out of place or unexpected.

Collaboration took on a whole new meaning once Surrealism spread throughout the globe. What it means to be human, allowed for dreams, the unplanned to be put into play in ways such as automatic drawing, hidden endings that were carried on in unexpected ways, as we see in activities such as the “Exquisite Corpse”, an activity that’s completion is a collaborative process where the end result is only realized finally after having gone through a process of many hands contributing with no prior knowledge of what went on prior to their contribution.

The description for the Exquisite Corpse drawing activity:

A game in which each participant takes turns writing or drawing on a sheet of paper, folding it to conceal his or her contribution, and then passing it to the next player for a further contribution.

Some examples of images seen here are depictions of the very young. These events shown here become part of the life of a growing person. The composite of life’s stages and moments weave together to contribute to the advances in life experience. Each one looking at art takes in the image from their own point of experience at that time. Think about what is remarkable to you, what are the facts seen in these works of art?  What are the conclusions you make?

Learn more about artists within this exhibition:

Jennifer Garza-Cuen

Ricardo Ruiz

Dorothy Hood