THE MAGICAL RAGE

In a reality that we no longer recognize. Surrealism's enchantment continues to inspire exhibits and repêchages. "Surrealismo e magia." premieres at Palazzo Venier dei Leoni from 9 April to 26 September 2022. "La modernità incantata," the first presentation to address a movement's interest in magic, esotericism, mythology, and the occult. The show brings together works from over 40 worldwide institutions and private collections, as well as crucial early pieces personally collected by Peggy Guggenheim.

We discussed it in depth with Grazina Subelyté, an art historian specializing in Surrealism, associate curator of the Peggy Guggenheim collection, and the show's primary curator.

M – I'd like to start with your background, which you mentioned briefly when we first met: you've been in the United States for 14 years and are originally from Lithuania. I'd like you to give a brief outline of your profession because there isn't much information available. Start with the most important events in your personal and professional life.

G – I was born in Vilnius, Lithuania's capital, but I've been learning English and traveling around Europe since I was a toddler. My parents have always stressed the significance of my identifying as a European and global citizen. I studied contemporary art at bachelor and master's level in Germany and England. Then, 14 years ago, I left for an internship at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice and never returned. It had been one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences. You must grasp chances when they present themselves in your life.

M – I believe there is something mystical going on in our lives, something pre-written; you get that feeling now and then. Things that you are passionate about and have worked hard to achieve begin to appear. You ask for the highest possible quality, and you get it.

G – The Surrealists truly felt that everything in life was pre-destined, that we appear to encounter things by chance but that they were supposed to happen at a specific time and in a specific way. I completely agree with you and have faith in you. Sometimes you have to choose intuition above rationale and logic.

M – Does any trace of your home country remain in your personality and identity, and what do you believe you've gained throughout your globe-trotting? First and foremost, I'm assuming you've mastered a number of languages...

G – I was born in 1984, and because everyone around me spoke Russian, I learnt it. Learning a language, in my opinion, teaches you about a culture's mindset.

M – I come from an age and a country that was infatuated with the myth of the United States, which has now disappeared. When visiting China or the East in general, knowing English is not enough; you must also master the local language; otherwise, you will never understand their identity, essence, or the complexities of their unique way of thinking and experiencing things.

G – I agree. I've traveled to Japan so frequently that I've given lectures and contributed to exhibition catalogues. If you wish to visit Japan, you must adapt to its culture in order to understand and enjoy it. Languages allow us to travel to different realms by communicating with people from diverse cultures. We're beginning to conceive of societies as having a more global character. Since I was a youngster, I've had the opportunity to learn and master a lot of languages. I began by reading foreign-language books. In terms of contemporary art, Lithuania has a thriving cultural scene; it is, for example, one of the most active nations in the world, despite its tiny size. At the Venice Biennale in 2019, the Lithuanian Pavilion received the Golden Lion, as well as other special mentions. I've been affected by a variety of stimuli since I was a youngster, ranging from art history to literature and theater.

M –I sense your openness, and I believe you are at ease wherever you are. I suppose this is both enriching and engaging. This trait of yours has undoubtedly been a key to gaining access to Surrealism and its glittering depths; without a doubt, one of the most varied and secretive creative explorations of the previous two centuries. What was your first experience with Surrealism like? How did its diverse language become your primary area of interest and attention as a professional?

G – As a child, one of my favorite books was Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita," a classic of Magic Realism. With a few exceptions, Magic Realism is a movement akin to Surrealism. Its notion of taking people to realms of mystery and inexplicability, dealing with something beyond reality, has aroused my interest for a long time. When I go to the Guggenheim for this, I finally grasp Peggy's role in the movement. Surrealism was one of the first trends she championed. Even if she was objective in her purchases of abstract and surrealist works, and the surrealist corpus is not among the wealthiest, the Guggenheim collection remains a distinctive and unique example today.

M – How many surrealist works are there in the collection?

G – More than a hundred. I'm not even sure what the precise figure is. The collection has a wide range of paintings, sculptures, and sketches.

I believe what I like best about Surrealism is its link to the moment we live in. One of the most recent and devastating calamities was the epidemic. Surrealism, as strange as it may appear, was all about transforming the world. Many of its members had fought in World War I, and then they had to deal with the devastation of World War II. They felt that rationality and logic would not bring about any benefit, and that the actual issue afflicting human civilization is regression. They rejected these commonplaces in favor of exploring new methods to perceive the world around them, focusing on unconsciousness and irrationality. To have a deeper understanding of the world, it is essential to begin with ourselves and learn to know our inner self through the symbolism in dreams.

M – It was all about challenging and breaking the predictability of their Time and society in their never-ending quest for freedom.

G – Andrè Breton, the movement's creator, defined Surreality as the resolution of any form of opposite: Rational – Irrational; Dream – Reality; Masculine – Feminine. He added that once we can overcome these dichotomies, we would be able to attain a greater degree of surreality, which simply equates to a higher spiritual level.

M – Surrealism lacks Dada's nihilistic mentality, as well as any hint of negativity, perhaps just criticism.

G – Surrealists saw themselves as active citizens rather than passive observers, and their art attempted to idealistically transform the environment in which they lived. For them, the promotion of love and liberty, which continued in personal liberty, was more than a watershed event. The concept of freedom was intended in its widest, even spiritual sense: the freedom to envision and experience the cosmos. It's all about inspiring and enthralling the rest of the planet and people around them.

They strove to impart the concept of a more optimistic future, and magic was considered one of the best best means to do so. Surrealists were often misunderstood throughout their lifetime, which is why many people associate Surrealism with escapism.

M – Their sensitivity and curiosity in the inner workings of human nature enabled them to read people more accurately and be inclusive while avoiding generalization. Inclusivity dives further into human identity and its numerous manifestations. Don't you think this is one of the reasons it's always intriguing and relevant?

More than anything, saying "I'm a surrealist" signifies "I'm rebellious," even if you're a pacifist. They came into battle with pre-established rules and ideology through their work. It has been said that this movement was sexist, with women viewed solely as muses. On the contrary, more women artists were involved in the movement than ever before.

Peggy Guggenheim was well-known for her unwavering support for guys such as Ernst and Pollock. But when it came to female artists, she was a true trailblazer. She had two galleries: Guggenheim Jeune in London, which she opened in 1938, and Art of this Century, which she ran from 1942 until 1947. She created a number of shows incorporating women in the first gallery she opened in London. The first surrealist show featured pieces by a little-known Danish lady named Rita Kern Larsen, rather than works by Ernst or Magritte.

M – Have you included any works by Kern Larsen in your exhibition?

G – I staged a modest show on her at Palazzo Venier dei Leoni in Venice around five years ago. No one had ever heard of her. I believe that, like Peggy did throughout her life, we must provide a platform for artists to be noticed. She did two performances on women in New York in the 1940s. The first was titled "31 Women," and it featured numerous surrealist painters such as Dorothea Tanning, Leonor Fini, Leonora Carrington, Méret Oppenheim, and even a piece by Frida Kahlo.

M – Was Maya Deren one of these 31 artists?

G –Deren was not a surrealist, although she was linked to the movement and a close friend of Marcel Duchamp. She rose to prominence after filming an incomplete film called "The Witch's Cradle" at Peggy's gallery in 1943; we'll display it at our exhibition. Peggy chose female artists for that exhibition who were all under the age of 30. Half of the reviews were unfavorable; the New York Times opined that since Surrealism is 50% hysterical, women would naturally be good in it. Peggy believed she had been tasked with proving the opposite. We wanted to illustrate Peggy's direct link with the artists who were important to her in the show since the first piece by a woman she ever bought for herself was a painting by Leonora Carrington. Paintings by Carrington, Fini, and others will be on display.

M – Any other names?

G – Tanning, Deren, Remedios Varo, Kay Sage, Yves Tanguy's partner; we are happy to welcome this artist's remarkable loan from the Metropolitan Museum of New York. I'm particularly glad that the exhibition will last six months, which is rare given that the majority of the items on display will be returned to private collections once the exhibition is over.

M – So then they might vanish for a long time!

G – Correct. It's an amazing opportunity to have all of them in one location for such an extensive period.

M – Let us delve more into the parallels between today and the post-World War II period. You undoubtedly have an opinion.

G – I believe that history moves in cycles, even if it does not repeat itself. As a result, several comparisons may be drawn between what is happening today and what was happening at the time. We now have climate change, as well as other sociopolitical problems. The world is evolving in unprecedented ways. What is the "new normal" that has emerged in the aftermath of the pandemic? You don't appear to be able to look at the world the same way you used to.

When we were confined to our homes, we faced loneliness, but we also rediscovered our creativity. The reality seemed strange. Our old idea of Real appears to no longer relate to the current dimension. People are once again looking for alternative explanations for what is going on and maybe finding solutions in more metaphysical ways. Because mankind did not have as much in the past, we lost some of our knowledge and in order to make sense of this period, we need to re-access this knowledge. Both Magic Realism and Surrealism have had a role in fashion, which is why we've always maintained that Peggy's collection is timeless, and surrealists will always be relevant.

M – Can we argue that the Surrealists started a new chapter in the history of art that is still being written? Perhaps a chapter of wisdom that enchants us even now, much more than it did in the past.

G – We discussed how Surrealism had come to an end. Is it, on the other hand, truly gone? In reality, Breton constantly rejected artists; but, did Surrealism end just because someone was banished or because its founder died? No, I don't believe so. I feel it lives on in the work of current artists. Dorothea Tanning and Leonora Carrington both died in 2011. I believe that today we should talk about Surrealisms rather than Surrealism. Re-interpretation is how a movement endures.

M – Living for a dream, or at least the significance of dreams, has been a recurring topic for more than five generations.

G – Freud and his works on dreams were a key source of inspiration for the movement. He explicitly refers to dreams as encoded narratives that must first be decoded in order to be read and comprehended. They contain the suppressed half of ourselves that unexpectedly springs to life. Surreal artworks, in a similar way, may be thought of as codes that must be deciphered. And it's not preposterous to think of their works of art as physical stills of dreams, actual brain-teasers.

M – Did you come across anything particularly appealing throughout your research?

G – It's not just the notion of magic in general; I'm thinking specifically of the Tarots and the concept of the evil eye, which has become so prominent and powerful in their works. I'm also thinking about the concept of androgyny.

M – Your last point is a fascinating topic that needs to be researched. Decoding the complexities of each topic and how it has been inspired by specific books or tarot cards is an autonomous and intriguing research project in and of itself. Why do you believe Tarot cards were such an important tool for Surrealists?

G – Victor Brauner, a Romanian-born artist, was heavily influenced by Tarot cards, and we will have two significant works in the exhibition that demonstrate this link. One piece from the Centre Pompidou collection, titled The Lovers, depicts him as a magician attempting to change the world. Leonora Carrington was similarly influenced by tarot cards, and she created her own deck. In our exhibition, we will have a portrait of Max Ernst painted by her in 1939, in which he is portrayed as a kind of hermit. For the first time, we will present this painting alongside "The Robing of the Bride," another work by Ernst in which Carrington is shown as a witch. This artwork is one of the focal points of my exhibition.

We will also have works by Giorgio de Chirico, since there is a relationship with surrealism, but he also shaped the notion of androgyny in some of his paintings, such as Il cervello del bambino, "The child's brain," from 1941, which was part of Andrè Breton's personal collection. It's an essential piece with vital significance for today's youth, such as sexual fluidity.

M – The role of women in art is a hot issue this year. I'm sure you have more to say about it. This would be a wonderful way to wrap up our chat.

G – We intended to demonstrate to the public the strength of women's ideas, and how they can elicit not only emotions, but revolutions. The exhibition serves as a message to many women working today, not only those in the arts. Male surrealist colleagues supported female surrealists. Women have been more than just bystanders or minor characters; they have played constant and vivid starring roles. During his American era, André Breton alluded to matriarchy as a sought-after situation to strive to; men's ideas should have been abandoned, leaving women with a wide unfettered field of activity.