The Surreal Life
After a European tour, Dali and Co.’s sublimely giddy eccentricities arrive at the AGO By David Balzer
Forget David Altmejd and his bird-headed businessmen. When it comes to outré, they’ve got nothing on the surrealists. In the AGO’s big summer show, French surrealist André Breton’s (borrowed) take on the movement—that it’s “a chance meeting on a dissecting table between a sewing machine and an umbrella”—is handily illustrated by a madcap assortment of early-20th-century architecture, furniture, kitchenware and more.
SALVADOR DALI AND EDWARD JAMES
White Aphrodisiac Telephone, 1938
In response to poet Edward James’ request to make over his abode, Dali designed this hybrid of lobster and phone. The surrealist-bar-none thought the two a natural pairing: the crustacean’s genitalia align with the speaker’s lips.
MAN RAY
Model in Dominguez’ Wheelbarrow, 1937
Such odd juxtapositions as Man Ray’s placement of a languid sylph in a shimmering frock in Oscar Dominguez’ silk-lined wooden wheelbarrow soon came to define fashion photography and, decades later, music videos.
SALVADOR DALI
Ruby Lips Brooch, 1949
A crimson maw baring a set of menacing pearl teeth, Dali’s brilliant bauble is at once sumptuous and foreboding. If Freud and his theories hold little meaning for some of the brooch’s present-day fans, they certainly didn’t to its cheeky maker.
MERET OPPENHEIM
Table With Bird’s Legs, 1939
One of the leading female surrealists, Oppenheim cast a jaundiced eye on domestic placidity with her unusual objects. This table, with its stork legs and embossed arrows (which double as bird tracks), lends the everyday an air of primitivism and violence.
Surreal Things inhabit the Art Gallery of Ontario from May 9 to August 30. $10–$18. 317 Dundas St. W., 416-979-6648, www.ago.net.
Comments
Comment on this story
Neither David Balzer nor Toronto Life necessarily agree with the comments posted here. Editors will not correct spelling or grammar. Toronto Life reserves the right to edit or delete comments entirely. Read our full policy
Some articles on this site require that you have a Torontolife.com account in order to comment, and this is one of them. If you do not have an account, you can register now.
Follow Toronto Life on Twitter, Facebook and via RSS