Surrealism was a 20th century avant-garde artistic and literary movement, dedicated to releasing the unconscious mind. Surrealism thrives on the absurd, diverging from reason and convention and drawing on dreams and the imagination to create boundary-pushing art. Explore our selection of surrealist-inspired art from our talented community of artists.
Surrealism was a 20th century avant-garde artistic and literary movement, dedicated to releasing the unconscious mind. Surrealism thrives on the absurd, diverging from reason and convention and drawing on dreams and the imagination to create boundary-pushing art. Explore our selection of surrealist-inspired art from our talented community of artists.
The Surrealist Movement was founded in Paris in 1924 by André Breton. The Surrealists aimed to revolutionise the human experience by revealing the unconscious and reconciling it with rational life. The word ‘surrealist’, first used by poet Guillaume Apollinaire, implies ‘beyond reality’. Surrealist artists are influenced by mysticism and the knowledge and art of ancient and Indigenous cultures. Surrealist methods include automatic drawing and writing, as well as the depiction of dream worlds. Surrealism has permeated art, literature and film, and its ideas and themes have been re-imagined for different contexts. The varied styles and subjects featured in our collection of surrealist-inspired artworks emphasise the individuality and power of the imagination. From Dan Hillier’s fantastical, uncanny and eccentric Neo-Victoriana artworks to Joe Webb’s astronomical vintage collages and Gleyeson’s magical, mystical representations of the occult through detritus of popular culture, our surrealist-inspired artworks are thought-provoking challenges to our perception of reality.
