KAG’s Unreal explores the strange and wonderful influences of surrealism

By MIKE YOUDS

Glimpse the mysterious realm of the unconscious – and climb into the sandbox if you like — with a visit to Unreal, a Vancouver Art Gallery touring exhibition on show at Kamloops Art Gallery until June 14.

Visitors are expressing a wider-than-usual mix of responses to the spring show, leaving comments that range from delight to disgust. That may reflect the over-arching theme, surrealist influences that touch on the dream state, an aspect of the human condition over which we have little or no control.

Everyone has awoken from a dream feeling as though they’ve just been subjected to a wild ride not of their choosing. Some are drawn to the dream state; others are repulsed by it. Unreal mirrors that dichotomy.

“It really taps into the unconsciousness and dreams,” said KAG curator Charo Neville. “That’s one place where we can’t control our thoughts. All of these things filter in and become part of the subconscious.”

Surrealism, which originated almost a century ago, evolved from the birth of psychoanalytic theory and attempts to understand the inner workings of the mind. Characteristically, surrealist artworks delve into the unreal, challenging the imagination and juxtaposing imagery that seems to defy rational explanation.

VAG’s Daina Augaitis, who curated the touring show, sought works from the gallery’s permanent collection with a common surreal thread to them while avoiding the well-known figures of the surrealist movement, names such as movement leader Andre Breton, Salvador Dali and Henri Magritte. She arranged the show in four intriguing sections: Absurd, Disassembled, Unconscious and Haunted.

With ample space to work with, Neville added three additional works to the Vancouver show. These include Lubber, a sculpture by Luanne Martineau in felt and wool that is vaguely reminiscent of a famous surrealist work by Max Ernst, The Elephant Celebes (1921).

“She’s kind of playing with high/low art,” Neville explained. “Also, she’s created an object that isn’t recognizable from everyday life. It elicits an uncomfortable feeling for people because of its sexual allusions.”

Maxwell Bates, in his 1966 painting The Night of the Nepenthe, satirizes the cocktail party as a social phenomenon in the era, presenting it as an allegory for isolation rather than connection.

Marcel Dzama, a member of Winnipeg’s Royal Art Lodge group, is well known for drawings characterized by a bizarre cast of characters – humans, animals and hydbrid creatures among them. They are childlike and playful on one level but also bear themes of sexuality and violence.

While the show is suitable for all ages, there is one component that carries a warning to younger viewers. Che Vuoi (loosely translated as “what do you want?”) is a video by Quebec artist Marina Roy and explores a theory that our desires are driven by observation of others. Within a dream-cycle of imagery, it includes a six-foot-wide blood-sucking mosquito.

A resource area at the back of the exhibition represents a fairly recent feature at KAG shows. Visitors are encouraged to sit down with pencil and paper and express their own surrealist ideas in relation to the show.

“We’ve asked people to draw their dreams,” Neville said. “This is an educational room, but it’s also a place to play. It’s become quite an exciting space.”

Through May, the gallery is continuing a Drink and Draw series, inspired by the exhibition, at The Noble Pig. On May 5, 12 and 26 from 7-9 p.m., people can create their own artwork or work collaboratively with others. Then, on June 5 from 7-9 p.m. at the gallery, the Anxiety Drawing Jam invites visitors to drop by and draw their “most pressing anxieties.”

Also at the gallery: The Great Giffoni Magic Show on Saturday, May 10, 1-3 p.m. Come see the Canadian illusionist in this all-ages show. Experience surrealism like never before.