January 27th, 2024

Happy Saturday! And just like that, the first month of the year is essentially in the books. This week I’ve been working on concepts for a yet to be announced exhibition in NYC in a couple of months. It’s a themed show, and requires pushing beyond the obvious to create something unique that the other 40+ amazing artists aren’t doing. After some floundering, I think I arrived at a concept that might work and now comes the hard part of execution. Fingers crossed I can pull it off 😁 

Since I’m pushing the surrealism angle, it’s fitting that this weeks deep dive features a great surrealist artist from the early 1900’s who shares a connection to our artist from last week, Max Ernst.

Artist Spotlight - Leonora Carrington (1917-2011)

Career

Leonora Carrington was born in 1917, in Lancashire, England into an affluent family. She was rebellious from a young age and struggled against the traditional expectations placed upon her and was even expelled from multiple schools. Her interest in art was evident early on. Despite facing resistance from her family, she pursued art, attending the Chelsea School of Art in London and later the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris.

In Paris, Carrington became involved with the Surrealist movement. She met and formed a relationship with the Surrealist artist Max Ernst in 1937, which significantly influenced her early work. Max was married at the time and 26 years her senior which was looked upon as scandalous. Her early paintings from this period, such as "Self-Portrait (Inn of the Dawn Horse)" (1937-38), display a strong Surrealist influence. These works are characterized by dreamlike scenes, fantastical creatures, and a blending of reality and fantasy.

The outbreak of World War II profoundly affected Carrington. After Max Ernst's arrest by the Nazis, she suffered a mental breakdown and was hospitalized in a psychiatric institution. Her experience in the asylum, where she was subjected to convulsive therapy, deeply affected her. She later chronicled these experiences in her book "Down Below," providing a stark and personal insight into mental health treatment in the 1940s.

In the early 1940s, Carrington fled war-torn Europe for New York and eventually settled in Mexico, which became her home for the rest of her life. Mexico's vibrant culture and its own rich tradition of magic and myth deeply influenced her work. In Mexico, Carrington's style evolved. Her work from this period, such as "The Giantess (The Guardian of the Egg)" (1947), shows a greater focus on mythology, alchemy, and the occult, often reflecting her feminist ideals.

In her later years, Carrington continued to explore themes of transformation, alchemy, and mysticism. Her style became more refined, and she often incorporated elements of narrative storytelling into her paintings. During this period, Carrington began to receive more recognition for her contributions to art, especially as interest in female Surrealist artists grew. She became an inspirational figure in both the Surrealist movement and feminist art.

Contributions to the Art World

Carrington emerged as one of the few prominent women in the Surrealist movement, a domain largely dominated by men. Her perspective and themes brought a much-needed feminine viewpoint to the movement, often exploring ideas of identity, gender, and the inner workings of the female psyche. Her art is rich in personal symbolism, drawing from her own life experiences, dreams, and inner world. This autobiographical element, blended with universal themes, makes her work deeply personal yet widely relatable.

Through her art, Carrington often challenged the traditional roles and representations of women. Her works feature strong, autonomous female characters, often portrayed as mystical beings or witches, subverting the conventional depictions of femininity.

Style

Carrington’s interest in alchemy, the occult, mythology, and Celtic folklore is evident throughout her work. She used these themes not just for their symbolic value but also as a means of exploring deeper truths about the human experience. While primarily known for her paintings, Carrington's written works contributed significantly to the genre of magical realism. Her stories weave together the real and the surreal, creating a seamless narrative world where myth and reality coexist.

Many of Carrington's paintings tell a story or depict scenes from an unknown narrative. This narrative quality invites viewers to interpret her work in a personal and subjective way, much like reading a story or a myth.

Carrington had a unique ability to blend elements from the real world with fantastical and imaginary components, creating a seamless and convincing universe where the boundaries between reality and fantasy are blurred. She tapped into universal themes and archetypes, making her work broadly relatable and impactful. Her time in Mexico influenced her style, introducing elements of Mexican art and culture. This cultural fusion added another layer of richness and depth to her work.

Influences and Lessons

Carrington fully embraced the rejection of conventional artistic norms as a member of the Surrealist movement. The theories of Carl Jung, especially his ideas about the collective unconscious and archetypes, had a significant impact on Carrington. Additionally, her interest in alchemy and the occult deeply informed the symbolic language in her art. Her own life experiences, including her rebellious upbringing, her time in a psychiatric institution, and her escape from Nazi-occupied France, profoundly influenced her themes and artistic style.

Her life and work exemplify the importance of embracing one's unique perspective and experiences. Her distinct voice in art shows the value of authenticity and self-expression. The ability to transform personal struggles into profound artistic expression is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the transformative power of art.

Style Representation

Collectors Corner

Reece Swanepoel - The Reece Swanepoel Archives

You might have seen the SHPunk’s flooding X this week. This was a spontaneous project created by Ren in the Strange History DM group; it all started with taking one of the members PFP and “punk-ifing” it, and it quickly avalanched into 60 different personalized PFP’s for members of the community. He decided to inscript them on Ordex and each artist could claim theirs for 0.01 ETH. Wave 2 is planned for the future and I can’t wait to see who gets the SHPunk makeover next.

Check out the collection; there’s BLAC, historic_crypto, illustrata and more. Here’s me 🤗 

Final Thoughts

This newsletter has had some nice growth this month and I want to say thank you to everyone that’s joined for the ride. I hope you’re getting some value or at least entertainment from the content. I’ve been brainstorming some ideas for contests so that I can find more art to feature, I’m hoping to share some details soon.

As always, if you enjoyed this edition I would really appreciate if you shared it. Just hit the share button below. And if you’re not following me on X yet, I’d love to follow you back.

On that note, I’ll leave you with a quote reminding us to push boundaries:

Enjoy your weekend, friend!

P.S. If you have feedback I’d love to hear it! A reply to this email goes directly to me.

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