Exhibition V & A London, 29 March - 22 July 2007 Jay Woolrich Any exhibition of work by Surrealists is likely to be of interest to socialists familiar with the long-standing links between Surrealism and Marxism, and also to a broader audience for whom Surrealism and the surreal are part of everyday parlBut shows put on by mainstream galleries with zero input from contemporary Surrealists have a woeful track record, and this reviewer for one approached the exhibition with trepidation.
First, the good news. The exhibition includes a handful of rarely seen works by women Surrealist artists, including Leonora Carrington, Toyen, Dorothea Tanning and Leonor Fini. In particular, Carrington's dazzling 'Night Music' retains a deeply unsettling impact undimmed by the passage of time.
Despite the best efforts of the Surrealists themselves these women artists have remained scandalously underrated, and any exposure of their work is welcome.
That's the good news. In every other respect the exhibition surpasses previous mainstream 'Surrealist' shows in attaining new depths of banality. Aside from a couple of brief references at the start of the exhibition, politics is rigorously excluded.
Not for the first time Surrealism is treated purely as an 'art movement'.
Instead of being seen as part of the inevitable commodification of all phenomena, the appropriation of Surrealist themes and motifs by capitalism (e.g. through advertising and the design of products for the rich) is celebrated and legitimised here, rather than being seen as a terrain of struggle.
This of course comes as no surprise. What is astonishing however is both the ineptitude in the selection If you happen to find
yourself in South Kensington on a rainy
afternoon with nothing better to do -and you've got a tenner burning a hole in your pocket - then
perhaps it's worth a
visit. of the material on show and the cretinism of the accompanying commentary. For instance, sections on an interior by Le Corbusier, on post-war American biomorphism, and on Art Nouveau, leave the visitor with the distinct impression that the curator has thrown in any odds and ends that happened to be lying around in the V & A's basement - any link to Surrealism is tenuous at best.
Other examples of this cultural kleptomania appear around every corner.
The inclusion without comment of that arch enemy of Surrealism, Jean Cocteau, gives a clear indication of the depths of the organisers ignorance.
This is confirmed by some of the commentaries that litter the exhibition, which would be funny if they weren't so utterly misleading for a non-specialist public.
Some of these comments -for example the claim that •...the Surrealists perceived the shop window as innately surreal' - manage to combine idiocy with meaninglessness.
And what are we to make of the proposition that 'Surrealism... learnt the power of symbols from advertising'?
We might as well say (and with rather more justification) that they learnt the power of symbols from Freud; or perhaps from road signs? A reasonably competent 'A Level' student could have done better. This generally slipshod approach even extends to the exhibition shop, where cardboard bowler hats, stick-on Dali' moustaches, and badges bearing the slogan 'this is not a badge' set the tone for the kind of trashy merchandise on offer.
Although in a way it's reassuring that at least some profiteers are incapable of making a cheap buck out of Surrealism without simultaneously making fools of themselves! So is the exhibition worth a visit?
Well, if you happen to find yourself in South Kensington on a rainy afternoon with nothing better to do - and you've got a tenner burning a hole in your pocket - then perhaps.