


Fantastic Women - Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt

Surreal worlds from Meret Oppenheim to Louise Bourgeois
Goddess, she-devil, doll, fetish, nymphet, or wonderful dream crea­ture—women were the central subject matter of Surre­alist male fantasies. It was often only in the role of companion or model that female artists could succeed in pene­trating the circle surrounding André Breton, the founder of the group of Surre­al­ists. However, upon closer exam­i­na­tion it becomes evident that the partic­i­pa­tion of women artists in the move­ment was consid­er­ably larger than is gener­ally known or reported. The Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt is now presenting the female contri­bu­tion to Surre­alism for the first time in a major thematic exhi­bi­tion. (02/13/2020 – 05/24/2020) Female artists differed from their male colleagues above all in their reversal of perspec­tive: they often embarked on a search for a (new) model of female iden­tity by ques­tioning their own reflec­tion or by adopting different roles. Contem­po­rary polit­ical events, liter­a­ture, and non-Euro­pean myths and reli­gions are further subjects that the Surre­alist women examine in their works. With some 260 impres­sive paint­ings, works on paper, sculp­tures, photographs, and films by 30 inter­na­tional artists, the exhi­bi­tion reflects a diverse spec­trum in terms of both style and content. Besides famous female artists such as Louise Bour­geois, Claude Cahun, Leonora Carrington, Frida Kahlo, Meret Oppen­heim, Dorothea Tanning, and Toyen, it also invites the visitor to discover numerous unknown but exciting artist person­al­i­ties from more than three decades of Surre­alist art, such as Alice Rahon and Kay Sage. (Text: Schirn Kunsthalle)