Since the origins of Surrealism in the 1920s\, the tension betwee n the recognizable and the unfamiliar has inspired and informed artistic pr actices. Unreal\, drawn primarily from the Gallery’s permanent collection a nd augmented with local loans\, considers contemporary artists’ exploration s beyond the rational and looks at the ways in which they delve into ideas around desire\, fantasy\, anxiety and the absurd. Although many of the imag es and objects presented may initially appear normal and familiar\, upon cl oser examination these quotidian scenes have been transformed into strange\ , mysterious and at times nightmarish depictions.
From examinations o
f human vulnerability to the mining of the unconscious as a source of inspi
ration\, to a conscious turn towards the strange and fantastic as a deliber
ate strategy to counter the cool rationality of conceptual art\, this exhib
ition considers the diversity and innovation with which artists explore the
many edges of reality. Artists include Francis Bacon\, Maxwell Bates\, Mat
thew Brown\, Marcel Dzama\, Jock Macdonald\, Myfanwy Macleod\, Luanne Martineau\, Paul McCarthy\, Jason McLean\, Eri
c Metcalfe\, Annette Messager\, Sandra Meigs\, Al Neil\, Alfred Pellan\, Marina Roy and Cindy Sherman\, among many others.
This exhibition is organized by the Vancouver Art Gallery and curated by Daina Augaitis\, chief curator/associate director.
Photo: Marcel Dzama\
, Untitled\, 2000\, ink\, watercolour\, root-beer wash on paper.
Colle
ction of the Vancouver Art Gallery Vancouver Art Gallery Acquisition Fund.<
/em>
http://www.vanartgalle
ry.bc.ca/the_exhibitions/exhibit_unreal.html