POSTED: 22 MAY 2011

GoMA brings Paris's surrealist treasures to Brisbane*

One of the world’s important collections of surrealist art will be shown at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art this winter.

Paris’s renowned Centre Pompidou has loaned the core of its surrealist collection for Surrealism: The Poetry of Dreams, a major survey exhibition showing from 11 June to 2 October.

The exhibition will include more than 180 paintings, sculptures, photographs, works on paper and films by 56 artists, dating from 1913 through to the late 1970s.

“The surrealist collection from the Musée National d’Art Moderne at the Centre Pompidou is Europe’s most significant and we are thrilled GoMA is the exclusive Australian venue for this superb exhibition,” said Queensland Art Gallery Director Tony Ellwood.

“The exhibition celebrates one of the most important artistic movements of the 20th century and offers audiences unprecedented access to an astonishing collection of works.

“It is the first major survey exhibition of surrealist art in Australia since 1993.”

Curated by Didier Ottinger, Deputy Director of the Musée National d’Art Moderne, the exhibition will trace the history of Surrealism from the movement’s origins in Dada in the 1910s, through its written expression in the publications of André Breton in the 1920s and 1930s and on to later manifestations in the 1960s and 1970s.

Mr Ellwood said the exhibition will feature iconic surrealist works by artists such as Giorgio de Chirico, Salvador Dalí, Paul Delvaux, Max Ernst, Alberto Giacometti, René Magritte, Joan Miró, Man Ray and Yves Tanguy.

“It will also reveal the work of artists less frequently exhibited in Australia, such as Hans Bellmer, Victor Brauner, Joseph Cornell, André Masson, Francis Picabia and Raoul Ubac,” he said.

“The Centre Pompidou’s collection captures the diversity, experimentation and excitement of Paris which was the epicentre of Surrealism in Europe.

“Artists gravitated there from all over Europe to create an unparalleled avant-garde scene in which painters, sculptors, filmmakers, scientists, dancers and poets all collaborated.”

The Centre Pompidou also has significant holdings of surrealist photography and cinema, by key practitioners such as Jacques-André Boiffard, Erwin Blumenfeld, Claude Cahun, Luis Buñuel, Maya Deren, Eli Lotar, Dora Maar and Man Ray.

GoMA will present an extensive film program exploring the presence of Surrealism within the history of cinema, an innovative Children’s Art Centre program integrating surrealist games, an Up Late series with weekly music performances, talks, film screenings and other special events and public programs.

The gallery would also publish the first English-language publication to profile the Centre Pompidou’s surrealist collection.

*Based on media release issued by Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art.

Salvador Dali; Spain 1904-89; Hallucination partielle. Six images de Lenine sur un piano (Partial hallucinations: six image of Lenin on the Piano) 1931; Oil & varnish on canvas; 114cm x 146cm; Collection: Musee national d’art modern, Centre Pompidou, Paris. Copyright Salvador Dali/Foundation Gala-Salvador Dali/VEGAP. Licensed by Viscopy, Sydney, 2011.

Novotel Brisbane

Accor launches Brisbane Surrealism accommodation packages

Accor is offering special weekend accommodation packages in conjunction with the exclusive Australian exhibition of Surrealism: The Poetry of Dreams at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA).

Accor’s accommodation package will be available for the duration of the exhibition (11 June to 2 October) and combines overnight accommodation for two, a complimentary house beverage, full buffet breakfast and two tickets to the exhibition at GoMA.

Available for Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights only, the package starts from $219 per night at Novotel Brisbane, from $194 at Mercure and $179 at Hotel Ibis.

To book at Novotel call 07 3309 3309, Mercure 07 3237 2300 and Ibis 07 3237 2333 or visit www.accorhotels.com.