The years between 1901 and 2000 provide enough evidence of the Surrealists’ artwork. The contradicting conditions between dreaming and reality are the rationale behind the introduction of surrealism. According to Anirudh (2017), the surrealism movement involved literature and visual arts that made headlines between World War I and two. Surrealists initiated a philosophical and artistic movement that examined the workings of the mind throughout the 20th century. Artists hoped to change people’s lives by striking a balance between a rational understanding of life and one that recognized the unconscious and the power of dreams. To physically show their imaginations, many surrealists now use automatic drawing or writing. In the past, artists used mysticism, ancient cultures, and indigenous art knowledge to connect with their minds. This essay will discuss surrealism, the agenda behind Surrealists’ movements, and how cultures and dreams can be interpreted through artwork.
The agenda with Surrealists was to promote mind emancipation as well as artistic expression liberation. Artists intended to show that what a person thinks or what is in the mind can be pulled out through art. Different types of art such as bizarre have been remarkably successful in promoting artwork by trying to express different mind states. Surrealists attempted to tap into the unconscious mindset to reflect the creative potential. Experts who despised rationalism and literary realism and were heavily influenced by psychoanalysis believed that the rational mind stifled the power of the imagination by imposing taboos. The Surrealists’ desire to tap into the unconscious mind, as well as their interests in myth and primitivism, influenced many subsequent surrealism movement groups and styles existing today.
The timing of Surrealists’ artwork was efficient because it related to what was happening throughout the century. Max Ernst (1923) used an imbalanced armor figure to show how authority could be overthrown anytime. Ernst’s art was timely because the government at that time was fighting colonization and independence, therefore exposed to security instability. The Persistence of Memory art by Salvador Dali (1931) reveals the soft and hard sides of life. At the time of publishing, Dali showed the need to assess and utilize time wisely as things could rapidly turn around. Surrealism is important today because it allows individuals to do things they haven’t been able to achieve since its inception (Omerovic, 2021). Surrealism was a literary, intellectual, and artistic movement that sought a revolution against the restrictions of the logical mind and was influenced by the writings of psychologists.
In conclusion, surrealism sought to transform human experience by rejecting a rational view of reality in favor of one that emphasized the importance of the unconscious and dreams. Surrealists discovered the beauty in the unexpected and the uncanny, the rejected and the unconventional mindsets. Surrealism activists aimed to capture the unconscious state of mind to reflect in paintings. Artists who were influenced by psychoanalysis and detested rationality and literary realism believed that the logical mind limited the power of the imagination by establishing cultural taboos. Surrealism has been one of the most influential and subversive movements of the twentieth century, flourishing in the 1920s and 1930s, while offering room for improvements. Surrealism aimed to gain access to the subconscious mind and convert the stream of thought into art. The art industry has a variety of specializations in which artists chose and major professions, surrealism is one among the specializations.