Angels of Anarchy: Women Artists and Surrealism | Manchester Art Gallery
I went to see this exhibition yesterday and really loved it. As well as the usual suspects from the 'first wave' of surrealism (Lee Miller, Frida Kahlo, Leonora Carrington, Léonor Fini) there are works by less well-known and more recent artists such as Francesca Woodman and Eva Švankmajerová.
The exhibition encompasses the whole range of surrealist activities from painting, writing, sculpture and photography to surrealist objects, videos and films including rare film footage of Frida Kahlo and a wonderful short film by Eva Švankmajerová. While some of the works are very well-known (and much reproduced), seeing them 'in the flesh' shows just how much can be missed in the reproduction and there are plenty of lesser-known works to be discovered. I was particularly impressed by the work of Ithell Colquhoun who I'd not come across before and is well represented in the exhibition including her own interpretation of the Tarot deck.
If you can get to Manchester and are interested in surrealism and/or women artists you should make sure you see this exhibition, especially as this is the only UK venue for it. The exhibition runs until 10 January 2010 and entry is £6 (£4 concessions) and under 18s and Friends of the gallery get in free.
If you can't get to the exhibition, the heavily-illustrated catalogue is available to buy from the Manchester Art Gallery online store:
http://shop.manchestergalleries.org/products/name/angels-of-anarchy/product_id/mag7322?size=&start=0
The press release for the exhibition is below and you can find out more here:
@23narchy
