This is the first time that the Design Museum in London has explored on such a large scale the impact of Surrealism on the world of design, and much more. Spanning 100 years, nearly 350 objects are displayed in four sections, probing the fields of decorative arts, furniture, interiors, fashion, photography, and film. Works and objects by Man Ray, Lee Miller, Giorgio de Chirico, Salvador Dalí, Marcel Duchamp, Elsa Schiaparelli, and Leonora Carrington sit alongside contemporary pieces by Sarah Lucas, Björk, Tim Walker, Mary Katrantzou, Iris van Herpen, Yasmina Atta, and the Bouroullec brothers.
The Vitra Design Museum, the Tate, and the Sainsbury Center for Visual Arts have contributed to the establishment of this radical relationship by lending works from their collections. “If you think surrealism died out in the 1960s, think again,” says Kathryn Johnson, curator at the Design Museum. “This exhibition shows that it is still very much alive and never really disappeared. The early Surrealists were survivors of World War I and the 1918 flu pandemic. Their art was in part a reaction to these horrors. Today, in the context of dizzying technological change, war, and another global pandemic, the spirit of surrealism feels more alive than ever in contemporary design.”
Nathalie Dassa
« Objects of Desire: Surrealism and Design, 1924 – Today » – Design Museum
224-238 Kensington High St, Londres (Royaume-Uni)
Jusqu’au 19 février 2023
England, London