The year 2024 is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Surrealism, and St. Pete remains the modern-day epicenter of all things celebrating the movement, thanks to The Dalí Museum. Now, their latest showcase of Surrealist art is a stunning exhibition of some of the greatest photographers who helped birth the transcendental art form.
Opening on November 16, The Subversive Eye: Surrealist and Experimental Photography from the David Raymond Collection is a breathtaking exhibition featuring 100+ works by more than 50 of the amazing artists who launched the Surrealist movement between 1920 and 1940. Admission to the stunning gallery is included with tickets to The Dalí Museum. 
We got a sneak preview of The Subversive Eye this week, and it is truly a journey back in time, as well as into the minds of the artists who, along with Dalí, helped shape one of history’s most formative artistic movements. With highlights from Eastern Europe, Germany, and Japan, the exhibition illustrates Surrealism’s profound impact on the photographic arts and experimental visual practices across the globe, exploring how surrealist ideas resonated within diverse avant-garde movements.
Experience the birth of Surrealism
“Debuting in relation to the movement’s literary production, photography came to define a range of avant-garde practices around the world,” the museum explained. “In the hands of Surrealists and the experimental photographers they inspired, the camera became a mechanism for discovering visual poetry, and seeing the world in a new way. With a dizzying array of tactics, including multiple exposure, unusual perspectives, cropping, and solarization, Surrealists rapidly made the medium their own and their procedures radiated throughout Western and Eastern Europe, the Americas, and Japan.”
Notable artists include Eileen Agar, Eugène Atget, Joseph Bartuska, Hans Bellmer, Brassaï, Manuel Alvarez-Bravo, Robert Capa, Georges Hugnet, Clarence John Laughlin, Dora Maar, Lee Miller, Lucia Moholy, Osamu Shiihara, Man Ray and Wols. Dora Maar will be represented by no less than eighteen rare vintage prints. Importantly, the exhibition will explore the numerous ties between Surrealist ideas and Eastern European, German, and Japanese experimental practices.
The exhibition is curated by William Jeffett, Sr. Curator at The Dalí Museum, with works on loan from artist and art collector David Raymond. Since 1985, Raymond has pushed the boundary of the definition of “the surreal,” working to expand the canon in his collecting practice. Beginning in 2007, when over 160 works gathered by Raymond became part of the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, he found his passion for collecting became even stronger. This is the first exhibition in a decade to debut the fruits of his labor.
Create your very own surrealist photography
After exploring the beginnings of the surrealist movement in photography, step into The Dalí Musem’s photo studio to create a surrealist photo yourself. This interactive experience invites guests to experiment with the powerful cameras inside their smartphones to capture intriguing images of wooden manikins, geometric metal boxes, and coiled metal springs. This moment of play and exploration allows guests to peek into the minds of surrealist artists by using ordinary objects to create extraordinary imagery.
The Subversive Eye: Surrealist and Experimental Photography from the David Raymond Collection is open now through May 4, 2025 at The Dalí. Open daily, The Dalí Museum is located at 1 Dalí Boulevard. Get tickets and learn more at thedali.org.
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