One of the best ways to celebrate the New Year and welcome 2025 is to resolve to visit photography exhibitions more often. Why? Because there is so much to learn! You’ll discover not only well-known artists but also those you may not be familiar with. If you’re ready for this challenge, we have the perfect opportunity for you. A new exhibition is currently taking place, offering an in-depth look at the world of surrealist photography. Whether you are interested in photojournalism or portraiture, this exhibition is a fantastic way to explore the various genres within the medium.
Lead image by carnaval_08 on Flickr and used with Creative Commons Permissions.
Titled The Subversive Eye: Surrealist and Experimental Photography from the David Raymond Collection, the exhibition showcases rare Surrealist images from the collector’s collection. It celebrates the 100-year anniversary of Surrealism’s founding and displays the works of over 50 artists from various parts of the world. In addition, the exhibition also includes a write-up by Dawn Ades, a British art historian, who also detailed an article for the 1986 Surrealist photography show L’Amour Fou.
The showcase, which takes place at the Dali Museum, Florida, is an exceptional gateway to understanding the decades of the early Surrealist movement, which has helped us to shape our voices today. Those who have heard of Dali will know how the artist created dreamscapes that have garnered international acclaim for their complexity. In that regard, photography is not far from the unseen world built by Dali. With over 100 works by more than 50 celebrated photographers, The Subversive Eye exhibition reveals how the medium is not restricted to the role of capturing reality. Rather, it can be argued it is a perfect tool to distort this and blend fiction with the real world.
Some of the artists whose work you will witness include names such as Eileen Agar, Eugène Atget, Joseph Bartuska, Hans Bellmer, Brassaï, Manuel Alvarez-Bravo, Robert Capa, Georges Hugnet, Clarence John Laughlin, Dora Maar, Lee Miller, Lucia Moholy, Osamu Shiihara, Man Ray and Wols. Dora Maar, who is also an exceptional figure in this movement, is represented with 18 prints alone. In many ways, the showcase also helps to display the Eastern European, German, and Japanese experimental practices in this genre.
Some of the techniques in this exhibition include works created with collage, solarization, unusual angles, and multiple exposures. Thus, The Subversive Eye has six different sections for themes. The first is ‘Transformation,’ which depicts how Surrealist photographers alter their images. The second is ‘Enigma of the Ordinary,’ which depicts mundane objects and how these artists use them to showcase the absurd aspects of our lives. Then is the ‘Visible Woman,’ which portrays the liberation or the freeing of desires. Here, one will see a range of nudes, particularly of women. For instance, the phosphorescent image of Brassaï’s portrait of a woman’s buttocks or Maar’s portraits of Nusch Éluard. The other three sections are called ‘Poetic Objects,’ ‘Automatic Sculptures,’ and ‘Urban Mysteries,’ each depicting everyday objects, sculptures, or cityscapes at night.
In addition to the exhibition, visitors can become creators too. The space offers a photo studio, which includes mannequins, boxes, springs, and light, among other things, to allow you to capture stunning surrealist images through your phone. With this step, one can contribute to the growing movement in their own unique way.
The Subversive Eye is on display until May 4. To book your ticket, visit the Dali Museum’s website.
