For the first time since 1987, the MCBA is devoting a thematic exhibition to the Surrealism movement which, a young centenarian, hasn’t aged one bit
This exhibition brings together over sixty historical and contemporary artists to delve into the question of the movement’s relevance today through the fascinating lens of play. Initially seen as an informal activity that was essential to sociability amongst the Surrealists, play and games proved to be a release mechanism for a collective rethinking that questioned traditional values, defied conventions, and led the way to new forms of creativity.
Le Grand Jeu was originally the title of a review published in the late 1920s by a splinter group of French artists that broke with Surrealism and vehemently refused to rally to André Breton’s movement. The conflict was symptomatic of Surrealism, which fractured and reconfigured itself, making everyone alternately an adherent and a rebel.