All Dressed Up for a Surreal Day

I spent the morning getting freshened up and dressed for my visit to the LACMA to see the In Wonderland Exhibit: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States. I wore my favorite necklace. I made it a few years ago. As you can see it features Charlie Chaplan.
 

The earrings I have on are also handmade. I love the little turquoise burro. This ring is one of my many acrylic rings. I am sad because it broke that day. I am going to try and fix it. The leopard print scarf is one I wear almost everyday. It's super soft and goes with almost anything I wear.

 

My shoes are Dansko's. As you can see, I love stripes.

 

This is Lily. My mother-in-law's Maltese. She's in the middle of jumping and shaking her head. She's a funny dog.

 

Here she is trying to get into the picture I was taking of my shoes.

 

Isn't she cute? She's waiting for a treat here.

 

I loved this sign for the ticket booth at the LACMA. I took the photo while I was waiting in line.

 

I took quite a few snapshots of the exhibit. I love when you are allowed to take photos in exhibits. No flash, that's all they asked. Simple as that. So of course I took as many photos as I could. Here are a few of the highlights.

Here is Sol Y Vida by Frida Kahlo. They had quite a few Kahlos there, but I must admit that the collection they had of her work wasn't as interesting as a few of the other artists. I think they had her work in the show to bring the crowds. Don't get me wrong...I am in no way saying her paintings aren't amazing. I am one of her biggest fans. I love her still lifes and self-portraits the best. They had no still lifes there and only two self-portraits.

 

This Leonora Carrington painting was the first you see as you walk into the exhibit. It really set a tone for the show.

 

This is an oil painting by Kay Sage called I Have No Shadow. Her work features empty surreal landscapes. They are full of shadows and light. This is a close-up so you can see the two tiny figures in the distance. I love their long shadows.

 

These are the feet of an owl woman in Creation of the Birds, by Remedios Varo. I think her work was among the best of the work displayed there. Her paintings easily stood out as masterly work. The details she achieves show years and years of practice and dedication. I really admire her and her work is amazing.

Here is picture of the complete painting that I found at this blog, that explores the mind and soul of Remedios Varo. The photo I took came out shakey. I didn't set my camera to the correct settings so many of my pictures didn't come out the way I wanted them too.

Here is another close-up of a Remedios Varo paintings called Papilla Estella. Isn't it sad?

 

Here is a precious little detail from another Varo painting called Mimesis.

Here is Remedios Varo.

This is a screenprint by Dorr Bothwell, another artist I never new about. I loved her work. I would say most of it is an abstract/surrealist blend. The blend of colors and shapes in this print is so much fun,but also thought provoking. The symbolism is very poetic, but it implies so much.

 

This is Entreveramientos y Metamorfosis by Dorothea Tanning, another of the artists whose work stood out at the exhibition. She was married to Max Ernst, another famous surrealist artist. 

This is Dorothea's couch, Rainy Day Canape,

 and this is Dorothea. She just died this year on January 31st.

This is Leonora Carrington who just died last year in May.

Only one of the pictures I took of her work at the exhibit turned out so I had to find this one online.

This is a self-portrait. The detail in this painting was extraordinary. I wish you could see it better.

http://mexfiles.net/2009/04/09/leonora-carrington-not-the-english-way/

At the end of the exhibit they posted pictures and bios of all the artists in the show. There were over 30 featured artists in the show, all women surrealists living in Mexico or in the United States between 1931 and 1968. I found so many new artists to love that I didn't feature in this post. It was one of the best art exhibits I have seen in a long long time. I want to encourage you to go and see it if you are in the L.A. area. It was very inspiring and thought provoking.