Surrealism

​Surrealism was a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself.

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​The artists seek to explore the unconscious mind as a way of creating art, resulting in dreamlike, sometimes bizarre imagery across endless mediums. The core of Surrealism is a focus on illustrating the mind’s deepest thoughts automatically when they surface. This thought process for creating art known as “automatism.”

​Surrealist movement initially surfaced in 1924 when French poet André Breton published his “Manifesto of Surrealism,” influenced by the theories and writings on the unconscious mind by psychologist Sigmund Freud, the groundbreaking studies of Carl Jung, and the early 20^th-century Dada movement.

Early Surrealists challenged the constraints of consciousness and rationality in order to liberate the unconscious mind—a “superior reality,” as Breton called it.

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Surrealist artists were not confined to just one medium. Sculptures, painting, lithography, etching, film, photography, and other methods were all part of 1920s Surrealist art and continue to impact modern-day artists inspired by Surrealism.

• ​Some Surrealist artists include

• ​Salvador Dali

• ​Rene Magritte

• ​Picasso

• ​Frida Kahlo

• ​Joan Miro

• ​Marcel Duchamp

• ​And many many more

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Lowbrow art, or pop surrealism, is a visual art movement that arose in Los Angeles, California, area in the late 1970s. Its cultural roots are inspired by in underground comic, punk music, tiki culture, and hot-rod cultures of the street. The terms lowbrow and pop surrealism are used interchangeably. Lowbrow is often humorous, sarcastic, or ironic.

Most lowbrow artworks are paintings, but there are also toys, digital art, sculpture, and

• ​Mark Ryden

• ​Jeff Soto

• ​Amy Sol

• ​Argiris Ser

• ​Jermaine Rogers