Surrealism and Us: Caribbean and African Diasporic Artists since 1940
Edited with text by María Elena Ortiz. Preface by Marla Price. Text by Annette K. Joseph-Gabriel, Negarra A. Kudumu, Ashley Stull Meyers, Lindsey Reynolds.
How modern and contemporary artists across the African and Caribbean diasporas transformed European Surrealism into a tool for Black expression
On the centennial anniversary of André Breton’s first Surrealist Manifesto, Surrealism and Us shines new light on how Surrealism was consumed and transformed in the Caribbean and the United States. It brings together more than 50 works from the 1940s to the present that convey how Caribbean and African diasporic artists reclaimed a European avant-garde for their own purposes. Since its inception, the Surrealist movement—and many other European art movements of the early 20th century—embraced and transformed African art, poetry and music traditions. Concurrently, artists in the Americas proposed subsets of Surrealism more closely tied to African diasporic culture. In Martinique, Aimé and Suzanne Césaire proposed a Caribbean Surrealism that challenged principles of order and reason and embraced African spiritualities. Meanwhile, artists in the United States such as Romare Bearden and Ted Joans engaged deeply with Surrealist ideas. These trends lasted far beyond those of their European counterparts. Indeed, the term “Afro-surrealism” was created by poet Amiri Baraka in 1974; today the movement still flourishes in tandem with Afrofuturism. The Surrealism and Us catalog is divided into three themes: “To Dare,” “Invisibility” and “Super/Reality”. These sections, galvanized by scholarly essays, create transnational and multi-generational connections between Black life and artistic practice over the past 100 years. Artists include: Firelei Báez, Agustin Cárdenas, Myrlande Constant, Rafael Ferrer, Ja’Tovia Gary, Hector Hyppolite, Ted Joans, Wifredo Lam, Simone Leigh, Kerry James Marshall.
Cossette Zeno's "Rubén" (1952), is reproduced from 'Surrealism and Us: Caribbean and African Diasporic Artists since 1940.'
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Published to accompany the landmark show at The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Surrealism and Us: Caribbean and African Diasporic Artists since 1940 is one of the hottest new releases of the year. Featuring more than 50 works from the 1940s to the present that show how artists of the Black diaspora have transformed and even radicalized what was already a radical European Surrealism, this is a book for any serious art library. Curator María Elena Ortiz “sketches” some weirdness: “We see everywhere the long shadow of histories of colonial domination. Forms of racism that many thought were extinct have come roaring back to life. Moments of glory compete with episodes of despair. As I reflect on it, the situation seems absurd—nonsensical. This is rich soil in which Surrealism can grow—a Surrealism that helps us better see the strange situation we are in, and provokes us to imagine different ways of being. Generations have drawn inspiration from the history this show presents. The flowers of Surrealism are perennials, it seems, for better or worse. They sprout when the situation demands it, when some new absurdity or domination needs to be pictured and navigated. They answer to no-one and follow their own needs.” Featured here is the first panel of Elliot & Erick Jiménez’s “Blue Chapel (Rejection, Acceptance, Advocacy, Interdependence),” 2022. continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 9 x 11 in. / 208 pgs / 96 color / 9 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $55.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $79 GBP £48.00 ISBN: 9781636811284 PUBLISHER: DelMonico Books/Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth AVAILABLE: 4/2/2024 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: WORLD
Surrealism and Us: Caribbean and African Diasporic Artists since 1940
Published by DelMonico Books/Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Edited with text by María Elena Ortiz. Preface by Marla Price. Text by Annette K. Joseph-Gabriel, Negarra A. Kudumu, Ashley Stull Meyers, Lindsey Reynolds.
How modern and contemporary artists across the African and Caribbean diasporas transformed European Surrealism into a tool for Black expression
On the centennial anniversary of André Breton’s first Surrealist Manifesto, Surrealism and Us shines new light on how Surrealism was consumed and transformed in the Caribbean and the United States. It brings together more than 50 works from the 1940s to the present that convey how Caribbean and African diasporic artists reclaimed a European avant-garde for their own purposes.
Since its inception, the Surrealist movement—and many other European art movements of the early 20th century—embraced and transformed African art, poetry and music traditions. Concurrently, artists in the Americas proposed subsets of Surrealism more closely tied to African diasporic culture. In Martinique, Aimé and Suzanne Césaire proposed a Caribbean Surrealism that challenged principles of order and reason and embraced African spiritualities. Meanwhile, artists in the United States such as Romare Bearden and Ted Joans engaged deeply with Surrealist ideas. These trends lasted far beyond those of their European counterparts. Indeed, the term “Afro-surrealism” was created by poet Amiri Baraka in 1974; today the movement still flourishes in tandem with Afrofuturism. The Surrealism and Us catalog is divided into three themes: “To Dare,” “Invisibility” and “Super/Reality”. These sections, galvanized by scholarly essays, create transnational and multi-generational connections between Black life and artistic practice over the past 100 years.
