Go, Consider, or Skip? Beyond Surrealism at the Tate Modern

The Tate Modern’s newest exhibit, “Surrealism Beyond Borders” attempts to expand the art movement beyond the instantly recognisable works of Salvador Dali, Marcel Duchamp, and René Magritte to its global impact across the entire 20th century. It does so by focusing the exhibit first on the defining characteristics of the surrealist movement, such as ideas of the uncanny, dreams, the subconscious, automatism, and revolution, followed by several convergence points of the movement: Paris, the Caribbean, Chicago, Cairo, and Mexico City.

A Fantastic Concept…

I absolutely love the concept of this exhibit—take an art movement people have a passing familiarity with, and then expand to show its perpetuation in different contexts. Even if you don’t know what the uncanny is, chances are you’ve seen that image of Dali’s warped clocks.

This framework allows the attendee to establish a basic grasp of some of the references and concepts most common to the art movement before doing the very crucial work of expanding a historically Western-centric field into the depths of a rich and varied global tapestry.

…that may leave those without art history degrees in the dark

The execution of this concept, however, left slightly more to be desired. If you were previously unfamiliar with surrealism, the exhibit left you slightly lost with the distinction between the early onset of surrealism and its later influence. Concepts like automatism, the uncanny, sexuality, and dreams, should have been established early and clearly so that you were looking for their incorporation across the convergence points.

Similarly, I loved the way the exhibit was structured by convergence point but wished for more historical context. Throughout the exhibit, I kept wanting to look up and learn more about some of the conflicts and events surrounding those points— things like the Surrealist movement in Chicago in the late 60s, the Algiers Pan-African Festival, and the Mexican Revolution. In areas I knew less about, though, I struggled to make observations on what exactly was being subverted and how the art was particularly revolutionary. This would have easily been solved by providing slightly more historical context for each convergence point, especially in ones where they combined several areas like the one on Haiti, Martinique, and Cuba.

Overall, however, this exhibit left me thinking, and because of that, it was a success.

One of the best indicators that you’ve gone to a worthwhile exhibit is that it made you think. Not necessarily about the art you just saw, but about people, concepts, things. Basically, did you want to google things afterwards? This is what I was thinking about post-exhibition:

• I’m thinking about the idea from Michel Foucault that knowledge structures provide the key means by which power is held and used. Surrealists attempted to subvert the knowledge held by those in power and by doing so, challenge them.

• True Inclusion in Art: There was an intriguing point made about one of the original Surrealist exhibitions in which curators used works of Indigenous art. However, these artworks were not meant to be subversive- they simply existed within a different culture. Diversity and inclusion that seeks to include without a thorough understanding of the contexts of those cultures being included is inclusion only for show.

Bottom line: Go!

I would definitely go to this exhibit, but consider reading an overview of Surrealism like this one from Art Story before you go if you aren’t already familiar with the movement.

Lobster Telephone, Salvador Dali

Pay special attention to:

• Famous Pieces of Surrealism: Lobster Telephone (Salvador Dali), Time Transfixed (Rene Magritte): If you’re not familiar with Surrealism, note that these are pieces often spoken about in Art History 101 classes. You can listen to a podcast episode on the Lobster Telephone from the podcast Art & Stuff here.

• Long Distance, Ted Joans: Ted Joans was an African American surrealist artist and poet whose work was greatly featured in this exhibit. Read more here.

Further reading

These are my recommendations if you’re interested in some of the themes of this exhibit and want more

• Recommendations for learning more about surrealism: https://lithub.com/your-surrealist-literature-starter-kit/

• Documentary: Summer of Soul: Or, When the Revolution Could Not be Televised (This focuses on some of the concepts that the Surrealists were subverting, but isn’t about Surrealism itself)

• Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power (This book is from a 2017 exhibit at the Tate of the same name).

Beyond Surrealism will be at the Tate Modern in London until 29th August 2022. To buy tickets, click here. Remember, if you’re under 25, you can become a member of the Tate Collective for free and get £5 tickets.